


The Snow Wife (Yuki Onna)

by startrekfanwriter



Category: Japanese Mythology, Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, Norse Mythology
Genre: Multi, norse!japanese!marvel mashup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-25
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-19 12:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/573419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekfanwriter/pseuds/startrekfanwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki has a way of invading Darcy's personal space, but she doesn't get *that* vibe from him, if-you-know-what-she-means...even though he's taken to showering her with extravagant and inappropriate gifts.  And what the Hell is up with Thor?</p><p>A story about finding family in unlikely places.</p><p>None of these characters belong to me, and I don't profit from this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my ever patient beta, Notesfromaclassroom. She is an award winning published author who for some odd reason finds editing my scribbles worth her time. Check out her amazing fanfics here.
> 
> I've placed this story in the early 1600's, at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, though I'm sure the story of the Snow Wife is much older.

" _Once long ago in Japan there was a woodcutter, Mosaku, and his apprentice, Minokichi, who were traveling through the mountains on a cold, snowy winter evening. When they got to the river before their destination they found that the ferryman had left. Without any way to cross, the woodcutter and his apprentice took shelter in the ferryman's crude hut._

_Outside, the storm grew worse. Although they were laden with wood, they could not start a fire because the wind was so fierce it tore right through the hut's walls. They huddled together as closely as they could. Eventually, they fell asleep._

_In the middle of the night Minokichi awoke to find a beautiful woman with skin as white as snow leaning over Mosaku. From the woman's mouth came frost, and beside Minokichi his master's body went rigid and cold._

_The snow woman turned to Minokichi and narrowed her eyes. Minokichi was too afraid to even bow his head. For a moment he wondered if he'd actually been frozen through, too._

_At last the woman spoke. "I would kill you, too, but I feel pity for you and something else. I will let you live, but if you ever tell anyone of this night I will come for you and kill you. Do you understand?"_

_At last Minokichi regained control of his body. Bowing, he said, "Yes, my lady."_

_He heard the door of the hut bang. When he lifted his head, the snow woman was gone._

_A year later a beautiful girl showed up in Minokichi's village. She had skin as white as snow. Her name was Yuki. She was an orphan without family on her way to Edo to find work as a servant. Minokichi invited her home to stay with him and his mother before she resumed her journey._

_Yuki never made it to Edo. Instead she married Minokichi and lived happily with him and his mother for many years. She gave Minokichi several children, and even Minokichi's mother-in-law loved her so much that on her deathbed the old woman sang Yuki's praises._

_One winter night, perhaps eight years after Yuki had come to Minokichi's village, she was leaning over her embroidery as the wind howled outside. Raising her eyes, she caught Minokichi gazing at her intently._

" _Wife," he said, "there was something that happened to me long ago on a night much like this..."_

" _Oh?" said Yuki quietly._

_Gazing into the fire, Minokichi proceeded to tell her all about the night with the snow woman._

_When he was done he said, "It must have been a dream." His wife was silent. He hazarded a glance up at her. His wife did so remind him of the beautiful woman of the snow._

_But now her lips were curled in a snarl. Rising, she shrieked, "You fool! It was me! I am your snow wife and you have broken your promise." Pointing to the next room where the children slept she said, "If it weren't for the babies sleeping in there I would kill you right now! But know this, if they have aught to complain of at your hands I shall hear, I shall know, and on a night when the snow falls I will kill you!"_

_With that she turned into a spinning cloud of snow and disappeared."_

A smooth, vaguely British voice comes from over Darcy's shoulder. "He wasn't a woodcutter's apprentice. Mosaku was the finest swordsmith in all of Japan."

Darcy doesn't even jump at the voice of the So-Called-God of Mischief's voice.

She just turns around calmly and raises an eyebrow. There is Thor's 'little brother' Loki, hair slicked back and icky, green eyes aglow, staring down at her monitor. Again. Once she would have called him devastatingly handsome even with the hair, but the way he treats her, the way every time he's around he's just in her space...well, it's weird. And not in a good way.

Fortunately, Thor is usually around when Loki's around. Right now the So-Called-God of Thunder is glancing between the screen and Loki and Darcy, and he looks vaguely distressed.

Still staring at the screen, Loki leans forward. "Minokichi was the best of all his apprentices."

Darcy would like to say, 'Dude, it's just a fairy tale,' but he walked right out of a fairy tale...well, or a nightmare where he was tortured and mind wiped by mad space titans, so she holds her tongue. "I've never read anything other than woodcutter," she says instead. She narrows her eyes. "How do you know so much about it?"

Smirking, Loki gives a shrug. And then his smile drops and he tilts his head. His expression is oddly cautious. "Would you really like to know? Curious about your heritage?"

Thor suddenly slaps a hand on Loki's shoulder and starts dragging him away. "Come, brother, time to go. Leave Darcy to her task."

Loki's mouth drops, but he doesn't fight as Thor steers him away.

Darcy watches them head down the hallway. Her brow furrows. How did Loki know she is all of one sixteenth Japanese? Between her ridiculously big boobs and her blue eyes...She shakes her head. All she got from that gene pool is her sadly small stature.

Picking up her lukewarm green tea, she takes a sip and sighs.

x x x x

_The wind howls overhead and Loki pulls his cloak to him more tightly. This is not Alfheim in summer. Snow stinging his eyes, he looks at the copse of trees from which he just emerged from his world walk. They look vaguely Midgardian, but off..._

_It's close to evening. He takes a deep breath. He's too tired to world walk again so soon, and even though he has a high tolerance to cold, he has his limits. He's going to freeze if he stays out here too long._

_He scans the horizon. In the distance he sees a tiny hut by a river. Pulling his cloak more tightly around him, he sets off in that direction._

_World walking alone was probably not the smartest thing he'd done in his hundred odd years - but he'd just felt the need to get away. His lips have healed from their binding with dwarven twine, but the business with Sif and Thor...he didn't think he could get any more cynical about the politics of state or the heart._

_Bowing his head, he tries to find the hut but he can't see it in the deepening dark and steadily worsening snow storm. With an exasperated sigh, he sends off a projection of himself and locates the crude dwelling. With his magic to guide him he trudges on. By the time he reaches the shelter of roughly arranged sticks he is exhausted, physically and emotionally even more than magically. And as he staggers to the door and peeps through a crack he realizes he is not alone. He sends the faintest tendril of magic inside just so he can see._

_Inside the hut is a young man. He looks vaguely like the warrior Hogun. He has a wide face with golden skin, full lips, dark almond eyes, and black hair, spilling out from a neatly tied cloth that is serving as a hat. He is leaning over an old man, rubbing the old man's arms, murmuring over and over, "Master, you must not sleep! Master, you must not sleep!" Loki blinks. It takes him a moment to filter the words through the All Tongue, but then he recognizes them as Japanese._

_He tilts his head. There is a pile of kindling on the floor of the hut, but the fool has not lit it. There is also a sword in a fine scabbard leaning against the far wall._

_The young man begins slapping the old man over and over again, on his face, his legs, his arms. He picks him up and shakes him with surprising force. "Master!"_

_The old man does not respond._

_The young man falls to sit on the floor, pulls his knees to his face, and begins to weep._

_Loki stamps his feet to ward off the cold. He needs to go inside, but he doesn't feel like a fight right now, and he'll look foreign to this young man - and very tall, too. He tilts his head. The clothes both men wear are simple but clean and well made. They might have food. Loki raises an eyebrow. He has a little magic left and there might be a way for him to entice the young man not only to not fight Loki, but maybe even to help him._

_Smiling to himself, he works a spell he has just recently learned, one that is oddly so easy it might be second nature. He shifts his shape to that of a woman._

_Shifting takes only a moment; unfortunately, his body has an internal blueprint for the process. He is still too tall, his eyes are green, and his features a bit too European. Furrowing his brow, Loki reshapes his eyes so they are slightly slanted. He leaves his nose; it has already become more delicate with the shift. A little more concentration and he's made his lips fuller, shortened his stature, and made his bust a bit more petite. He tries to disguise his eye color, but for some reason it makes his vision brown and muddy, so he leaves them green. He casts a simple glamor over his clothing so it appears more like the man's. But where the man's clothing is dark blue, Loki settles for white - it is actually the easiest color to illusion, since it is all the colors and none._

_With that he steps into the small hut._

_As the door opens, the young man scrambles backwards and to his feet, the sword he crafted against the wall behind him. As Loki watches, his eyes dart to the sword and back to Loki's own. For a moment Loki thinks the man will fight, but then he straightens and bows low._

" _Sumimasen," he says._

_Loki blinks at the bowing man as the All Tongue filters his words. Sumimasen. The meaning doesn't quite translate. It means, I'm sorry and excuse me. Why is the young man apologizing? Still, the bow is appreciated. Loki tilts his head and says in a surprisingly high melodic voice, "It is cold in here." The little hut barely blocks the wind._

_The young man rushes towards the pile of sticks on the floor. "I will try to make us a fire," he says._

_Loki smiles. At least the human can take a hint._

_Kneeling, the man begins rubbing a notched piece of bamboo against a longer one braced against the floor and his sternum. He gets a tiny ember going impressively quickly, but as soon as he tries to set it into a tiny bundle of tender, the wind whipping the hut quashes it._

_Bowing to Loki without making eye contact, the young man begins his impossible task again._

_Sighing in exasperation, Loki holds a hand towards the kindling. "Get back!"_

_The man jumps backwards just as a hot shoot of green flame leaps from the kindling. He looks to it and back to Loki. He swallows and bows his head again. "Excuse me, may I move my master's body away from the flames?"_

_Loki tilts his head in acknowledgement. Kneeling, the young man gathers the corpse in his arms and moves it to a corner of the hut, carefully righting his clothing. Bowing low by the body, he begins to speak in a rhythmic chant, stopping every so often as though he doesn't know the words._

_It's touching to witness this mortal ritual for the dead. But it's foolishness. "If you don't come closer to the fire, you'll die surely as your master did," Loki says._

_The young man lifts his head and nods. Rubbing his arms, he approaches the flames. When Loki inclines her head to the space beside her, he sits down but doesn't utter a word. Which after a while becomes tediously boring._

" _What is your name, who are you, and how did you get here?" Loki asks._

" _I am Masada Minokichi. I am an apprentice sword maker. I and my master reside in Edo," he says with a bow. "We were taking the sword you see leaning against the wall to a Lord in Tatsuno."_

_Curious, Loki stands and walks towards the sword. She pulls it from the scabbard and gasps. It is so light. And the metal is worked so meticulously the blade is almost a mirror. Even dwarves would be hard pressed to make something so lovely and so deadly. "Did you make this?" Loki demands._

_Minokichi straightens and bows his head. "It takes many hands to make a blade."_

_Narrowing her eyes, Loki says, "But your part was significant."_

_Minokichi does not meet her eyes. "All was done under the supervision and direction of my master."_

" _You are lying," she says. She has a keen sense for it. She blinks. "This is your craftsmanship...probably from start to finish."_

_Minokichi's face hardens and he bows._

_Loki tilts her head. How odd to not claim credit. Sheathing the sword, she joins Minokichi by the warm flames, now a more natural orange. "Tell me more about your sword making."_

_Minokichi bows again and says, "Of course, Spirit Maiden."_

_Loki blinks. The description is apt enough, but she is used to being known by her name among the mortals of Northern Europe. "You may call me Loki."_

" _Roki-sama," says Minokichi slowly._

" _No, Loki."_

" _Rooooki," says the young man, his face turning a little red._

_Loki tilts her head. A few flakes of snow carried by a draft through the cracks in the hut turn to moisture and then evaporate in the heat of the fire._

" _Perhaps you should call me Yuki," says Loki, latching on to the Japanese word for snow._

_Meeting her eyes, Minokichi says, "Yuki-sama. It suits you."_

_He has a very nice face, beardless and open, full lips, high cheekbones. Something warm unfurls in Loki's stomach that has nothing to do with the flames. Narrowing her eyes - when did she start thinking herself as a she - Loki says, "Just tell me about the sword making...also...I am hungry..."_

" _Of course," says Minokichi, tilting his head._

_Minokichi gives her triangles of sticky rice and fish wrapped in seaweed from a satchel, and proceeds to tell her about his craft. Seeing his eyes drift hungrily to the rice balls, Loki divides up the food and gives him exactly half. She's not sure why. Obviously she is a princess - prince! Sharing food with a commoner is completely unnecessary even if it is his, but...he is human and weak. It shouldn't make her feel so good to see the gratitude in his eyes._

_She just enjoys learning new things, that's it. She asks him what he will do now that his master has died - she's wondered that about commoners. He tells her about an interesting aspect of Japanese culture. Apparently, if one's own son is deemed unworthy, a second son may be adopted, and that adoptee can inherit his new parent's business. Minokichi's master was planning on adopting him and marrying him to his own daughter, but it hadn't been formalized. Of course, seeing the master's favoritism towards Minokichi had angered the master's biological son._

_"He will turn me out now," Minokichi says with a stoic nod. "I will return to my village, without the title of swords craftsman, or a yen to my name. I am unsure of what I will do."_

_Loki finds herself oddly moved by Minokichi's plight...and envious of the Japanese system of passing down inheritances to adoptees. She can't say why._

" _Taihen desu ne," says Loki, the words slipping automatically to her lips. That's terrible._

_Minokichi turns his head towards her. He nods, looks down, and smiles. "Well, to be honest, I am not sorry to not be marrying the master's daughter. She despised me...she wasn't as kind as you, Yuki-sama."_

_Kind isn't a word Loki usually likes ascribed to her - him. She thinks about snatching the one rice ball left in front of Minokichi and taking a big bite out of it just for spite. But doesn't. He probably needs it more than she does. He'll have to deliver the sword to Tatsuno, return to Edo to tell of his master's death, and then return to his home village. Poor thing. She feels guilty for having eaten any of his food at all._

_How odd._

_Minokichi lifts his head, his cheeks coloring slightly. "Nor is she as beautiful," he says, and then quickly averts his gaze._

_Loki smiles. It's a compliment to her enchantment and she's really quite proud._

" _But you, Yuki-sama, snow-spirit, what of the realm you come from? Surely it is beautiful," Minokichi says._

_Loki raises an eyebrow at the words 'snow spirit.' But then sighing, she looks into the fire. "It is beautiful, I suppose."_

" _And your people must miss you," says Minokichi, and Loki can hear something in his voice. Caution? Fear?_

" _Well, I suppose my mother misses me," she says, looking up into the air._

_The human beside her relaxes a fraction. "Of course she does. All mothers miss their children."_

_Loki slides her eyes towards him. Shyly averting his gaze, Minokichi says, "How I would love to journey to your realm..."_

_Narrowing her eyes, Loki tilts her head. "You speak half-a-truth."_

_Bowing, Minokichi says, "Yes. You are right. As beautiful as the realm of the spirits is, my mother is a widow. If I do not return to my village, there will be no one to take care of her."_

_And suddenly Loki realizes he is worried she will kill him - has been worried probably since the moment Loki entered the hut. It would be easy to lead him on, to frighten him, to make him beg. Loki looks at the young man. He has done no wrong, has offered her nothing but politeness, deference, fire and food._

_Loki huffs out a breath. "I am not going to kill you, Minokichi," she says, wondering if she's going soft._

_The young man lets out a huff of air and bows his head again. "Thank you."_

_Loki sighs. "So you are your parents' only child?"_

" _Yes," Minokichi says. "Unfortunately."_

" _Having siblings isn't so wonderful," Loki blurts out. "I have a brother - the spirit of lightning and thunder."_

_The young man straightens slightly and then tilts his head. "I would think he might have a temper?"_

_Loki smirks bitterly at his inference._

" _...but I'm also sure he must love you, too." Minokichi says, quickly. "No matter what sort of fight you are having."_

_Loki blinks and looks at the mortal. He is gazing into the fire again. How did he know? As she watches him, he slumps towards the fire a bit. At that moment Loki realizes that despite the flames, the wind still whips through the hut. Inside the cold is manageable for her, but the mortal may be in danger._

_She'd rather him not die on her. "Tell me about your family, and your village."_

_Minokichi straightens at her words, but he looks at her quizzically and doesn't speak._

" _It will pass the time," she says. "It is still cold here despite the fire, and if you sleep you may wind up like your master."_

" _Eh...you are right," he says. "But I find it hard to believe a spirit would find my world interesting, neh?"_

_Loki shrugs. "Actually, usually when I visit this world I go to a land far across the sea."_

_Minokichi's eyes widen._

" _Japan seems rather exotic," Loki says._

_Looking into the fire, Minokichi says, "Travelling outside of Japan is forbidden since the shogun took power."_

" _Shogun?" says Loki, leaning forward._

_Minokichi nods. "Yes. The Tokugawa family rules Japan, though we have an emperor. The Tokugawa family supplies the Emperor's bride...and through her they control everything."_

_Loki tilts his head. How wonderfully subtle. "I'm listening," she says._

_They talk until dawn - about shoguns, emperors, and little ogre like creatures called kappas that have a fondness for human flesh and cucumbers._

_Loki is, of course, familiar with the cultures of Europe - that such a vastly different society as Japan exists in the same realm is fascinating. By comparison, the cultures of the other eight realms seem just poor monolithic reflections of Asgard's society._

_As the fire burns down to embers and the light of dawn begins to filter through the slats of the hut, Loki can't help but be a little sad. When she hears the sound of footfalls she knows she must go. "Thank you for your tales, Minokichi," she says. "I wish I could visit your village, it sounds lovely." And it does, the way he's talked about the cherry blossom trees and the leaves in the autumn._

_Minokichi bows and says, "You are welcome to come anytime you like."_

_After a night with him, Loki suspects that the offer is partially made out of decorum. And yet...she feels some sincerity in it, too._

_Loki tilts her head and looks at the sword at the far wall. Actually, she might have reason to visit someday. She scowls; but for now...Leaning close to him she whispers. "Do not speak of this evening to anyone. If my brother or my father were to know..."_

_...if they were to know Loki would be more of a laughing stock than he already is. Taking the form of a woman, no matter how clever, how subtle, would not be regarded highly by his fellow Asgardians._

" _I understand," he says._

_He doesn't, but Loki knows he will be quiet._

_The footsteps are very near now. Standing before him she says, "I must go," and makes herself invisible._

_Although he can no longer see her, Minokichi bows to the the earthen floor. "Ki o' tsukete," he whispers._

_Take care of your spirit._

_For all her life Loki's run against the tide of popular opinion in Asgard. She saw it as a way of safeguarding her spirit, if not her body - she'd taken more than a few beatings for being unmanly. But in the end, it was the spirit that mattered, wasn't it?_

_She is touched by the sentiment._

x x x x

Normally, Darcy plays assistant to Jane at SHIELD. Darcy's in no way scientifically qualified; she's just the only person who can read Jane's handwriting.

But sometimes when she's caught up with Jane's notes and there are no pressing updates needed to the non-secure section of the SHIELD intranet - Darcy knows just enough HTML, JavaScript, CSS and PHP to be dangerous, Fury puts her on reception duty. Basically, she just gets shuffled around from one odd job to another because SHIELD's afraid she'll spill the beans on all the classified intel she's picked up over the years.

...it's actually kind of a sucky job, really. But no one else would hire her after she graduated. So here she is...on reception duty this morning. It's boring. But it leaves her time to surf the net and do a little virtual window shopping. Right now Darcy is staring at a warm red-almost-pink form fitting cashmere sweater on her screen. It looks so light. And fitted - she'd have a visible waist if she wore it. And it would be warm. Darcy doesn't have access to much luxury now, but there was a time... She shivers in the bulky acrylic second hand sweater she is wearing. It's pilling. And it's scratchy. She looks at the price tag of the cashmere sweater. Only $399 on sale. She sighs.

"Oh, get that one," says a smooth cultured British male voice far too close to her ear. "It will suit you beautifully."

Darcy doesn't jump in her seat - though it takes effort. Instead she rolls her eyes at Loki's seemingly obliviousness to her personal space.

She clicks away from the screen. "Ain't going to happen." Swivelling around she turns. Loki is standing way too close. She crosses her arms.

Scowling at her, Loki says. "Why ever not?" He looks at her sweater. "You don't actually enjoy wearing this...this...flour sack?" He picks at a little pill of fabric.

Swatting his hand away, she says gestures backwards at her computer. " _That_ sweater would cost me my entire food budget for the month."

Loki's face softens just a fraction. "You know, I could -"

Suddenly Thor's voice booms through the hallway. "Loki, there you are! Do not annoy Lady Darcy!"

Loki turns his head, "I am not annoying her!"

"Well..." Darcy says.

Stepping up to the desk, Thor says too quickly, "Dr. Doom has declared himself world's greatest supervillain!"

Loki shrugs.

"Of all time," Thor adds, looking oddly nervous.

Loki straightens. His eyes snap back to her. "I'm sorry, but I can't leave that unchallenged - even if my time as a supervillain was short, it was still better than he could ever manage."

"Um...right-o,'" says Darcy.

Loki smiles. As Thor drops a hand on his shoulder and starts pulling him away he shouts, "But don't worry, I won't forget!"

Darcy blinks. Forget what?

A few hours later, she is still sitting at the reception desk when a messenger appears with a large parcel wrapped in brown paper and asks for a signature. Darcy blinks at the addressee. It's  _her_.

As soon as she's finished scribbling her John Hancock she opens the package. There's a large white box inside. Lifting the lid she discovers a little card taped atop layers of tissue. In a slanted, narrow script it says in green ink: "I did not forget! Can't wait to see it on you. Loki."

Scowling slightly, she peels back the tissue paper. And there it is. The sweater. Swallowing, she runs her fingers down the front. It is just as magically soft as she imagined it would be.

She bites her lip. She's not like some people around here who thinks Loki is gay - she's seen the way he looks at Natasha's ass. But he doesn't look at _her_ that way...and they're not even pals or anything. They've barely even spoken - despite the odd familiarity he's always displaying around her. And somehow when they do Thor always pokes his head in, like he's afraid Loki might bite her or something.

She puts her hands to her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut. And then she opens her eyes and looks down at the sweater. Who knew clothing could make her mouth water?

She scowls at Loki's note. Seriously, what the fuck?


	2. Dishonor in the House of Odin

Navigating to his contact list on his phone, Captain Steve Rogers, says, "Thanks for helping me figure this out, Darcy."

"No, problem," she says. Because helping him import contacts and set up speed dial numbers really wasn't a problem. Sitting so close she almost was touching him was reward enough.

"You're a swell girl," he says not looking up. He shifts his posture and Darcy can tell he's about to head into the conference room for the quarterly debriefing with Fury.

She leans in quick and nearly goes dizzy with the smell of soap and him. "And look, I even put my number in there..."

Steve looks up at her.

Swallowing, she steps back. "In case you ever need help with any other modern gadgetty stuff," she says. Pushing back her glasses, she averts her gaze.

A hand claps down on his shoulder and Tony Stark's voice echoes cheerily through the hall. "Yo, Cap, you got me for gadgetty stuff."

"Oh, hi, Tony," says Steve. He maybe nods in Darcy's direction as he and Tony walk away. He maybe doesn't.

Darcy sighs. "Bye."

From behind her she hears two more sets of footsteps. She rolls her eyes. Sure enough, in another moment, Loki is leaning over her shoulder and whispering in her ear. "You know, if you were wearing the sweater I bought for you instead of this...bear pelt..." He picks at the boxy acrylic sweater she's wearing...again. "He wouldn't walk away so fast."

Flushing, Darcy says, "I'm sending the sweater back, Loki."

From behind them comes Thor's voice. "Loki, you gave Darcy a sweater?"

"What do you mean you're sending it back?" says Loki, his words clipped.

Ignoring Thor, Darcy turns to Loki. "I can't accept gifts from you...it's...weird."

"Loki," Thor says. "What have you -"

"Weird?" says Loki leaning in until they're nearly nose to nose. "It is my right to -"

Thor claps a hand over Loki's mouth and Darcy's and Loki's eyes go wide. Loki must bite him or something because he pulls his hand back quickly. Shaking his fingers, Thor growls. "Brother..."

Loki's shoulders sink and he seems to deflate.

"It's your right?" says Darcy, to Loki.

Loki looks at Thor.

Scowling, Thor puts his arms over his chest.

Looking at the floor Loki says, "Of course. I was responsible for Thor's banishment. And for sending the Destroyer. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been exposed to sensitive information of intergalactic proportions, and SHIELD wouldn't have dissuaded any other potential employers; you might have a more fulfilling vocation."

"Wait, they dissuaded other potential employers?" Darcy says, voice rising.

Thors sighs, grabs Loki's arm and drags him into Fury's conference room.

Darcy stands just outside the door, confused and stunned by the whole exchange. She's about to turn around and head back to Jane's lab when Agent Maria Hill opens the door, and Fury shouts, "Lewis! Lewis! Get in here!"

"He wants you," says Maria, as though it wasn't perfectly obvious.

Blinking, Darcy walks into the conference room. All of the Avengers are sitting at a shiny black oval table. Loki is leaning on a hand, looking bored. Tony is rocking back in his chair staring at Loki. Bruce, Hawkeye, Natasha, Steve and Thor are looking expectantly at Fury. There is a large screen against the far wall, evidently plugged to the laptop Fury is hovering over because the screen has SHIELD's login page up and it says "Enter Password Director Fury"

Hitting tiny keys with too big hands, Fury says, "I think I forgot my password again, Lewis. Could you reset it for me?"

Darcy's eyes widen as his fingers keep moving. "Wait, are you on your third try?"

"Yes, but I don't think..." And then it happens. Suddenly the screen shows Darcy, larger than life. Screen Darcy has her glasses down low on her nose, is wearing all black, and is holding an old fashioned wooden pointer - well, actually, it was a pool cue. Darcy improvised.

Darcy's recorded voice echoes through the room. "You've forgotten your password for the 20th time Director Fury." She smacks the old fashioned pointer on her hand. "And this time you will not scream for me or anyone else in tech support to reset it for you!"

Everyone's eyes swing to Darcy.

"Oh, I won't, will I?" says Director Fury.

It had seemed like a harmless gag when she created this little video and tied it to his 20th failed attempt to login. In retrospect, it may have been an over reaction to his annoying inability to follow directions. Of course, she hadn't really thought the 20th failure would happen - let alone that it would happen in public. Real Darcy's hands go to her mouth.

Fortunately - or unfortunately, screen Darcy answers for her. "No, this time you will use the Reset Password link conveniently located right under the Submit button."

The screen shifts and the old fashioned pointer - well, pool cue, is aimed at the Reset Password link...that is right under the submit button. And seriously, why call tech support when the link is right there?

The pool cue fades away, but Darcy's voice is still coming over the speakers. "Come on, I know you can do it!"

Darcy swallows. Her whole body feels like it's turned to ice.

"Miss Lewis," Fury says, voice scarily inflectionless. "I'm very disappointed in you."

And that's when Darcy's had enough. "Well then, why don't you fire me? Oh, yeah...because I know too much. Well, I'm sick of this job and I'm going to find another and if I don't because someone dissuades people I'm spilling the beans on..." She blinks. Actually, she doesn't really want to spill the beans on too much...primarily because most of what she knows would be kind of bad if it got out. The secret identities of Steve, Bruce, Hawkeye and Natasha, for instance. The fact that Thor was responsible for a guy being permanently paralyzed before he got Mjolnir back. The fact that Asgard has the Bifrost and it can be used at as a weapon and it's frequently pointed in Earth's direction.

"...stuff..." Darcy finishes weakly.

For a moment there is nothing but ominous silence in the room.

And then Loki says, "I, on the other hand, have never been more proud of you."

"Brother!" snaps Thor.

Darcy turns to Thor's little brother. Sitting straight up in his chair, he's smiling. No, scratch that. He's beaming at her.

"Get out of here, Miss Lewis!" says Fury.

Smirking, Darcy gives a very poor imitation of a salute and leaves the room.

She's halfway to her desk when it hits her. Proud of her? Well...that's a little bit odd. She shakes her head. Whatever. She's obviously going to be fired, and she's not waiting around for Fury to go all pitbull on her - she's leaving without giving him the pleasure.

Darcy gathers all her personal belongings, sends an apologetic email to Jane, and picks up the sweater she got from Loki - it's all wrapped up in its original packaging. Heading out of the office, she drops the sweater off at the UPS store and heads home, a big smile on her face. She has hardly any money. She has no idea what she'll do...but she feels happy and free.

When Darcy gets back to the tiny basement 'studio' she's subletting from a friend who got a 'sweet deal' with rent control laws, she hears a dripping sound. She immediately knows that the studio's only sink is leaking again, and there is a puddle in the 3 foot by 3 foot area that passes as a kitchen. But she doesn't even look at that. Instead, her eyes go to the one piece of furniture in the room - a mattress on the floor. Her UPS package is there...and several tidy boxes of different colors that she knows without looking have clothing in them and scream expensive!

She blinks at them and then hears her buzzer sound. Peeking through her curtains and the bars over her windows, she sees two men and one woman. They're all dressed in black.

The buzzer sounds again. She sighs. Might as well get this over with.

x x x x

_Back loaded with wood from the forest, Minokichi bows at the river's edge. Beside him is his mother. Crouching low by the water, she prods a spot of gray earth with a stick. "What about this clay?" she says. "It might be suitable for a tatara."_

_Minokichi nods. At the river's edge the clay is dense and pure. It would be suitable for a tatara, the furnace used for smelting iron and steel. Not that it matters. Even if he could build the furnace, it takes at least four men tending fires for a week to extract the steel from the ore. Not that he could afford the ore - or the coal to create a blaze hot enough. But he smiles at his mother and makes a non-committal, "Eh."_

_Shaking the stick at him, she says, "You must not give up."_

_Taking a deep breath, Minokichi bows a little more - in deference and because the wood on his back is very heavy. "Eh," he says._

_"It will all work out somehow," his mother says, straightening and hoisting up her own burden of branches. "You'll see."_

_Minokichi does not see. They are nearly penniless. His late master's son had blamed him for his father's death - and though the charge had been dismissed, the implication had virtually assured that no other sword smith in Edo would take Minokichi on, even as a lowly assistant. He will be a poor woodcutter like his father and his grandfather. If he scrimps and saves he might be able to give a better life to his children - if any woman will have a wood merchant as poor as himself._

_He has resigned himself. It can't be helped. The wood upon his back suddenly feels very heavy. And then from above Minokichi and his mother, a feminine voice calls out, "Minokichi, is that you?"_

_For a moment Minokichi thinks he may be dreaming...it has been nearly an entire year. But he looks up. Standing atop the river bank is Yuki, wearing a fine green yukata bound at the waist with yellow fabric. A large satchel is strapped to her back. In the light of the autumn sun she is even more beautiful than he remembered._

_"Yuki-sama!" he says, not quite able to contain a smile, although perhaps he should be afraid. He'd spent most of their night together absolutely petrified with fear...but now, looking back at it, it was his last glimpse of a brighter, more beautiful world._

_"Sama?" says his mother, and Minokichi blushes. He used an honorific - something reserved for a fine lady, but he attached it to her given name, not her family name as would be appropriate. And she used his given name as well; his mother will know something is amiss._

_Walking down the bank, Yuki says, "Oh, it is a joke...you must be Minokichi's mother, Masada-san?"_

_"Yes," his mother says, bowing slightly at their family name. His mother doesn't look at the spirit girl's eyes, though. She is staring down at Yuki's pristine white socks and shiny green sandals peeking out beneath her yukata._

_"Pleased to meet you," says Yuki with a mischievous smile and a bow in Minokichi's mother's direction._

_Straightening, Yuki says, "Did Minokichi not tell you how we met on his journey to deliver his last sword?"_

_His mother's eyes slide to Minokichi. "No, he did not."_

_Minokichi looks down at the ground. "Eh, meeting Yuki - sa...san, was the only bright point of that journey." He meets Yuki's eyes. In the light they are a vibrant otherworldly shade of green. "But what brings you here, Yuki-san?"_

_Yuki frowns. "My parents have died."_

_Minokichi blinks. He doubts that very much._

_"That's terrible!" says Minokichi's mother. If she is suspicious of Yuki's startling eye color, she shows no sign._

_Tilting her head, Yuki says, "Yes, and I am journeying to Edo to obtain a position as a servant."_

_Minokichi smiles slightly to cover his discomfort. She's lying. His mother doesn't seem to catch on, though. Instead, she says, "Well, it is getting late. A young girl like you shouldn't spend it in the open. Come to our home, stay the night with us."_

_Minokichi's eyes widen, and he feels his skin heat from head to toe. It shocks him that just the thought of the beautiful woman before him sleeping in the next room...he bows his head. Yuki can turn herself into snow and create fire. To think that way of her is bound to bring him trouble._

_"But I don't wish to give you trouble," Yuki says, as if hearing his thoughts._

_"Oh, it's no trouble at all," says Minokichi's mother._

_Minokichi is inclined to disagree. He imagines himself lying awake in his futon all night, listening to Yuki's breathing through the thin paper walls of their hut. It will be trouble, the most delicious kind._

_"Make way for your elder," says Minokichi's mother, brushing by Yuki on her way up the bank._

_"Follow me!" she calls as she makes her way down the muddy path along the river's edge, much too fast for Yuki and Minokichi to keep up. Minokichi, blinks and his face reddens. His mother is trying to give them privacy. As though he could be a worthy match for a spirit of the snow..._

_He hazards a glance at Yuki. If she is aware of his mother's intentions and the insult, she gives no sign. To be on the safe side, he tries to diffuse the situation with a bit of humor, "I think she likes you."_

_Yuki winks at him, "I noticed." Minokichi's face goes hot, and he looks away. Spirited spirit - she'll be the death of him, but before she is, perhaps they'll have one last night. And even if it is spent in only conversation, he will be satisfied. He remembers the last time she was here, how bright and curious she was, how intelligent her questions about sword making were, how interesting her stories of Isurando and Asugarado._

_He tilts his head...surely she didn't come for conversation - he's much too dull. He puts his hands against the load he carries on his back. And surely she didn't come for other...personal...reasons. "Why have you returned, Yuki-sama?" he asks._

_"I have come to have you make me a sword," Yuki says._

_Minokichi's breath catches in his throat. He remembers her holding his blade, confident and regal. Her praise, then and now, makes his heart leap._

_Smiling a little wickedly she says, "Between your skills and my enchantments it will become one of the most legendary weapons in all the realms."_

_Minokichi smiles, but not in happiness. "Though my skills are not up to the task..."_

_Yuki lifts an eyebrow. "You're lying again."_

_Minokichi tilts his head, pleased by her recognition, but uncomfortable, too. "...I would gladly forge one for you."_

_"But?" says Yuki._

_Minokichi smiles at the ground, his stomach twisting. "But I have neither furnace nor forge, nor ore or coal, nor apprentices to stoke the flames."_

_Swinging her satchel forward, Yuki pulls out a small leather pouch tied with a single golden braid. "Perhaps I can help you get started." She pulls on the braid and the leather falls away. Golden coins fall onto the ground._

_"Ooh..." says Yuki, as Minokichi scrambles to pick them out of the mud, carefully handing each one back to her. They have pictures on them, a tree on one-side, on the other a one eyed man with a full beard - her father the mountain king? The one-eyed man seems to be scowling at Minokichi. Minokichi imagines him saying, "Keep your hands off my daughter."_

_"Is it enough?" says Yuki._

_Minokichi looks at the gold and up to her. "Yes - more than enough." Enough to build his own shop from the ground up. He shakes his head. "But it will take weeks, months even, and your family -"_

_"- know that I am visiting your realm for an extended period of time. It's done by us spirits all the time." She shrugs and gives a twisted smile. "They won't even miss me."_

_"I doubt that very much," Minokichi says, hearing the bitterness he'd heard so plainly in her voice that first night._

_Her smile fades, and Minokichi bows his head so as not to gaze at her emotions so exposed; he doesn't want to embarrass her._

_They start to walk along the path again. After a few moments she says, "Will you do it?" she says._

_He nods. "Yes. But I don't know how I will explain it to my mother without telling her that you are from the spirit realm..."_

_Yuki smiles brightly. Her teeth are not blackened as the rich ladies do, nor are her eyebrows shaved and painted high upon her forehead...but her height, her beauty, they are signs that she is not a daughter of poverty. "Don't worry, between your knowledge of the local culture, and my silver tongue, we'll think of something."_

_Minokichi nods, his brain a bit foggy with hope...and maybe just her presence._

_It is only when they are entering their humble home, and Yuki is slipping off her shoes and stepping onto their tatami mats with bright white socks, that it occurs to him...his mother hasn't asked a single question about her family._

_x x x x_

_Loki opens the door of the Masada's home. The morning sun is shining, and the surprise early autumn snowfall is melting. She looks to the ancient building hastily rehabbed in the past month to house Minokichi's sword making shop. He is there, putting the finishing touches on the furnace he built._

_Loki could create an imitation of the sword he beheld last time he was here - but it would be just that, an imitation. His magic might make it sharp, might make it gleam, but in a circumstance when magic was stripped away it would be just a dull blade, a prop, not a sword. He could go to the dwarves, but then the blade would have their magic wrapped with his. This way the blade's magic will be his and his alone._

_Yuki - Loki - had come up with a brilliant story to hide the truth of the sword's commission from Minokichi's mother. A rich samurai from two provinces over had ordered a sword made by Minokichi and sent him an advance to build his shop. As tidy as the tale was, there was a snag...although Minokichi was able to build a proper furnace with the help of some villagers, he hadn't been able to find experienced apprentices to stoke the flames for the full seven days it was necessary to smelt the ore. So Yuki needed a pretense to stay, to help Minokichi manage the fires herself - with magic, of course._

_Fortunately, the snow had fallen and Minokichi's mother had insisted she wait until it cleared._

_From behind her, Loki hears the sound of soft footfalls. She turns to see the old woman approaching. "Good morning, Yuki"_

_"Good morning, Masada-san," says Loki._

_"You may call me Masako," the old woman says, coming to stand by the door with her. Loki bows her head. In the past few weeks bowing has become second nature._

_Gazing out at the mountains, Masako says, "It is still very cold."_

_Raising an eyebrow, Loki notes it is hardly cold at all._

_Nodding her head, Masako continues, "Maybe you should stay until spring - it will be easier to travel then."_

_Loki smiles. In this society, misdirection isn't considered weak, it's courtesy. Masako is really saying 'stay with us...stay with my son, be his wife' but giving Loki wiggle room to say, 'I'm not interested' without hurting feelings. Whether Minokichi shares her feelings, Loki can't tell. He is either not interested, or terribly shy._

_Why Masako would want her for a daughter-in-law, Loki cannot imagine. She has made little effort to help with chores, beyond covertly using magic to whisk stains from fabrics, blast dust bunnies into other dimensions, and heat water faster. Even if Loki was inclined to help she wouldn't know how. Masako has spent the last few weeks essentially as Loki's servant. As a princess - prince! Loki is used to such treatment, but even she is beginning to feel guilty._

_Loki looks at the sun. "It is time for Minokichi's tea. Why don't I deliver it for you?"_

_Masako nods quickly, as though she was waiting to hear exactly that. "Yes, yes, I would appreciate that."_

_A few minutes later Loki is carrying a tray across the yard. The air is crisp and clear. The mountains rise behind her. She stops to turn and take it all in. It's been so peaceful here. She will miss it when she leaves. Her eyes fall to Masako and Minokichi's little hut. It's been a bit like being on a camping trip with Thor - sleeping on the floor, and drafty. But they have a bath. And the food is better. And every night she reads to Minokichi and Masako as they work - books ostensibly left to her by her parents. The Masadas enjoy it; they do not mock her for reading._

_It is so easy to be quiet here...the Masadas would never put up with someone like Thor. Not that they'd tell him. They'd probably hide all their food and claim they couldn't feed him._

_Bowing her head with a smirk, Loki, heads towards the workshop. As she enters she is hit by a wave of heat. She blinks in the darkness until her eyes adjust, and then she stifles a gasp. Minokichi is standing before the furnace, stripped to the waist._

_At the sound of her, he says, "Mother..." and then turns around. Minokichi blinks. "Oh, Yuki-sama."_

_His skin has the slight sheen of moisture. Loki feels herself flush. He isn't as bulky as the typical Asgardian, but it strikes Loki that he is healthy and perfectly proportioned. Licking her lips, she composes herself. It isn't like a half naked man is a sight Loki hasn't seen before - in her own - his own - mirror. Once upon a time._

_It seems a long time ago._

_Taking a shaky step forward, she says, "I've brought you your tea."_

_"Yes, thank you," says Minokichi stepping forward quickly and holding out his hands to take the tray. "You shouldn't have, Yuki-sama."_

_There is the honorific again. The tray falls from Loki's hands and the rough earthenware dishes crack on the hard floor._

_"Yuki, are you alright?" Minokichi says._

_Falling to her knees - to pick up the pieces or to just get away from him - Loki says, "Your dishes, I am sorry." She picks up a few shards and closes her eyes. The shards rip from her hand, yanked by her own magic._

_"Eh?" she hears Minokichi say, his voice very close._

_Loki opens her eyes to find him kneeling beside her. Unable to meet his eyes, she stares at the cups and teapot she has reassembled. "I am sorry," she says shakily. "I've ruined your tea. I can't put it back in the pot, it's picked up the dirt that's on the floor and -"_

_Minokichi wraps his hands around hers. "Yuki, you've cut yourself," he says._

_Loki looks down to where his warm golden fingers are wrapped around her pale skin, and her mouth goes dry. She sees the blood, the shallow cuts, but she is overwhelmed by the electricity that courses through her skin at his touch._

_"It's nothing," she manages to murmur, and closing her eyes, she wills them to heal._

_When she opens her eyes again, Minokichi is staring down at her healed fingers. "I am glad..." he whispers, and looking up he meets her gaze._

_For the first time she notices how rapid his breathing is - probably echoing Loki's own. And with a flash she realizes, Minokichi is interested...and he is not shy. He is polite._

_But now...He puts her hands together, so they are steepled palm to palm and then bowing, kisses the tops of her fingers. Heat spreads from where his lips touch to every part of Loki's body. A bridge has been crossed. She knows it instantly, but she doesn't want to turn back._

_Minokichi lays his forehead against her hands, and his hands drift down her wrists. Heat spreads from his touch through her entire body. Loki doesn't remember a simple touch like that affecting her so much as a man. She takes a shuddering breath, and Minokichi pulls her close so their foreheads are touching but he does not kiss her, he just runs his hands, feather light, up her arms to her shoulders and down her back. Not as though he is experienced, as though he is cautious, curious...wanting._

_And it feels...wonderful. Loki closes her eyes. It's like her whole body is an instrument of pleasure. She's been with many women in her male form - how did she not know this? Minokichi drops his head and nuzzles the space between her ear and her neck and Loki gasps._

_If anyone in Asgard were to know about this...she swallows and drops her hands as Minokichi pulls her more tightly to her. She breathes in the scent of his skin and lays her hands against his bare chest._

_It will just be an experiment. After her - his affair - in Asgard with Tyr's wife Vord, Vord's unplanned pregnancy, and the son Loki could never acknowledge as his own, Loki never trusted Eir's spells to control fertility. She was well acquainted with preventing accidents. No one need know about it. And when she's done...well, she'll be devastating with women in her male form, and she'll have a fine sword._

x x x x

Darcy's in the Stark Tower, popping her ears, when the elevator she's on draws to a stop at the 37th floor. WIth a ping the elevator doors open. And there's Loki. Darcy's grin is wide and genuine. It seems to startle him, because he blinks, and then without commenting on the fact that she isn't wearing any of the many things he's bought her, he smiles back.

Stepping onto the elevator, he walks sort of towards her, and then does this little swerve where he turns and stands at the complete opposite side. "I heard you got a promotion," he says.

Darcy is now an assistant web editor for the public relations department. She works on SHIELD's internet site and manages their social media properties. There's problem solving involved, design involved, and posting videos of the various Avengers butt's as they run down the hall on their way to missions involved - she's claiming she focused on their lower halves to preserve their secret identities. It's awesome. And it came with a hefty raise and tuition reimbursement if she chooses to go back to school.

As the door closes, she turns to him, still smiling wide. "Thanks to you."

Looking pleased, he tilts his head and looks at the floor. "You shouldn't discount your impressive presentation."

Is he deflecting her compliment? It's sweet, and she wants to hug him, even if his shellacked hair is really not her thing.

Raising his head he says, "So, it's the week before your feast of thanks giving. Are you going anywhere for the holiday?"

Darcy shakes her head. "Actually, no, I'm staying in town. My dad and his brother are coming up from New Mexico."

"Your mother?" asks Loki.

Darcy sags a little. "Oh, she...she passed away a few years ago." Right when Darcy had started college.

Loki's face falls. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

Darcy shrugs. "It's okay, really." Even if it isn't. Brightening, she says, "Actually, the reason they're coming here is because my brother is here and his wife just had a baby and no way will she get on a plane with a two week old."

Loki's eyes widen and his mouth quirks in a barely there smile, like she's just said the most wonderful thing in the world. "Another little Lewis!"

At that exact moment, the elevator stops, the door pings, and Thor gets on. By the way he's panting for breath, it sounds like he's been running. Nodding at Darcy, he glares at Loki and then stands right in-between them.

Ignoring the interruption, Loki leans around Thor's bulky frame and says, "Looking forward to being an aunt?"

Smiling in a way she knows makes her nose wrinkle, she says, "Yeah, actually, it's exciting."

"Yes, it always is," says Loki, still craning his neck to see around his brother.

And then all of a sudden, Darcy's staring at Thor's beefy back, and Thor is shouting at Loki in another language.

"I was just making polite conversation!" Loki says.

Thor reaches over and hits an elevator button. The elevator comes to a halt and Thor says, "Come, brother."

Looking livid, Loki barks something back, but he follows Thor down the hall.

"Bye," says Darcy. Thor doesn't turn around, just yells something at Loki. Loki does look back. He gives her a look that is all sorts of sad and sorrowful as the door closes.

It's too much. And too weird. But for once she's not thinking that it's Loki that's the weird one. Looking up at the ceiling, she says, "Hey, Jarvis, can you tell me what Thor just said?"

She's not allowed to waste Jarvis' time by asking him to run errands for her, but she can ask basic questions - and for translations. Stark Tower gets a lot of foreign visitors.

"That was Old Norse," Jarvis says. "And the closest translation would be, 'Loki, how dare you bring attention to the dishonor in the house of Odin!

"To which Loki replied, 'Compared to trying to take over their planet I'm sure this would be considered a small thing'.

"Thor's final words were, 'Remember your oath'."

"Huh." Shaking her head, she says to herself, "Seriously, is Thor having you keep tabs on me so he knows exactly when to interrupt?"

"Yes," says Jarvis.

Darcy hits the stop button on the elevator. "What?!"

"He has asked me to alert him whenever you are in Loki's vicinity."

Darcy blinks at the ceiling. "Does he have you do that for anyone else?"

"No," says Jarvis.

"Oh." Darcy swallows. How could talking about her family be in anyway related to dishonor in the house of Odin?


	3. Green Eyes

"And I'm telling you, he would so totally be into a threesome with us," Tony Stark says to Pepper. Pepper is pacing the floor a few feet away. Darcy does her best to keep her eyes from popping out of her head. She is currently sitting at Pepper's desk, removing a virus from the CEO's laptop - a tainted cat video snuck past the firewall - thanks, Clint! Everyone in tech support is lending a hand cleaning up the hardware.

"Tony," Pepper says, "you are aware that there is another person in the room?" She turns in Darcy's direction and mouths the words  _He's joking._

Tony looks at Darcy. Squinting, he says, "Do I know you?"

"We've met four or five times," Darcy says.

Tony stares at her.

"Darcy," she says.

"Nice to meet you, Marcy," he replies. "You look familiar." And then he turns back to Pepper. Holding up his Stark Phone he says, "And listen, this is what Odin, the big guy, has to say about Loki." Clearing his throat he begins to read aloud.

" _Then you spent eight winters below the ground_

_you were a woman and a milking cow_

_you gave birth there:_

_I call that unmanly behavior."_

"I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean..." says Pepper, tapping her chin.

"It means he's gay...he'll totally let me do him, and you can watch," says Tony.

"I'm not even here," says Darcy and tries to will Malware Bites to install just a little faster.

"I'm still not seeing it," says Pepper.

"Unmanly behavior," says Tony. "In Norse Tradition that means he's a receiver, not a giver when there's man-on-man action, if you know what I mean."

"I just don't pick up that vibe from him," Pepper says. "Wasn't he actually a cow? I think I read that somewhere."

Malware Bites finishes installing and Darcy hits the scan button. Leaning into the screen she wills it to speed up.

"No, he was a horse, and that was something else altogether," says Tony. "Milkmaid is Norse slang for gay. And of course he would be good at hiding the vibe, Pepper. Being a boy who likes getting it from boys is a huge no-no in Norse tradition - even more shameful than being a woman, and in Norse tradition that's pretty low."

"What?" Darcy and Pepper say at once.

"Hey, no judgment, let's be culturally sensitive here," says Tony. Waving a hand he adds, "Anyway, I'm sure he's good at hiding..." He makes some air quotes. "...the _vibe_."

"It doesn't say he was a milkmaid," says Pepper with a smirk. "It says he was a woman and a cow."

"Do you want this to happen or not?" says Tony. "I know you think he's hot."

"Okay, I'm just going to let this run," says Darcy, standing up abruptly.

"He's just joking," says Pepper quickly, shaking a hand. "This is just a hypothetical conversation."

Tony blinks. "No, it's not!"

As Darcy leaves the room, she hears Pepper say, "Privacy, Tony!"

The door slams behind her, but she still hears Tony say, "What?"

Trying to wipe the memory of the whole exchange from her head, Darcy pulls out her phone. It's almost 5 PM. She blinks. There is an email from Jane with a scan of some scribbled notes, and a "Please read this!" Even Jarvis hasn't been able to learn Jane's "system" - her handwriting 'evolves' over time. Darcy types out the equation with her thumbs and heads to the elevator.

Hitting the lobby button, she stares up at the numbers above the door. She has a pre-Thanksgiving -welcome-to-New-York meal planned with her father, uncle, brother, sister-in-law and her brand-new little niece. Darcy's excited and so happy. She remembers Loki's face when she told him about it, the wonder in it, and she's sure at this moment her eyes must hold the same glow...

She shakes her head, remembering Thor's strange interruption.  _'Loki, how dare you bring attention to the dishonor in the house of Odin!'_

Well, maybe Tony was right, and Loki had been up to some hanky panky on Earth, and maybe it had been of the boy-on-boy variety, or maybe he'd been a girl, or heck, maybe he had been a cow...but why was Thor so hung up on her?

x x x x

_Yuki's kimono is spread across the floor of Minokichi's workshop. Yuki lays atop it, her head pillowed on one arm, eyes staring at the ceiling, naked skin aglow with the green fire in the brazier. Early morning light has not yet begin to filter between the cracks in the door. The sword Minokichi made for Yuki lies just a few paces away. It's a beautiful thing; and he hates it._

_Minokichi's legs are twisted with Yuki's. The warmth of his climax hasn't steadied the agitation he feels. He feels his body is as heavy as lead; and his heart is beating too quickly with his desperation. "Stay," he whispers for the hundredth time since that first day she brought him tea. Since then whenever they've been alone and he hasn't been working, they've fallen upon one another, here, in the forest, in the bath house beyond his home - even in his home when his mother is gone._

_Yuki does not answer, only turns her head to stare at the sword. Minokichi threads his fingers between hers and kisses the side of her neck. "How can you leave this?" he asks, squeezing her tightly. He's never known such emotion, or so much desire. And he may be human and she may be a spirit woman, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world._

_Yuki sighs. "The passion will fade with time, Minokichi."_

_Minokichi scowls. Sometimes she speaks to him like he's a child and he hates it. "How do you know?" he says. He makes a dismissive huff. "I know I'm the only man you've been with; you aren't so wise." He remembers the blood on her thighs, the pain on her face that first time. It had frightened him and startled her._

_Yuki smirks. "You're right, Minokichi, I've never been with another man." Her voice ripples with condescension._

_Too angry to speak, Minokichi stands and walks towards the brazier, not caring that he's acting like a child._

_As he stares into the emerald flames, cool arms wrap around him. "I'd make you a poor wife, Minokichi." Kissing his shoulder, she says, "I can't cook, or clean. I would be a burden...and I don't belong here...I don't fit."_

_Minokichi scowls. "Even my mother says that with your education and learning you'd be a help to the business - and if we had children you could educate them."_

_At the words children, Yuki sighs. She said that is something they don't have to 'worry' about. Something her magic will take care of._

_Grabbing her hands, he says, "And you do fit here - with us..." Even if sometimes her ways are strange. At first she couldn't even use chopsticks properly, and she won't touch natto, the fermented soybeans Minokichi and his mother enjoy so much for breakfast. Yuki describes natto as a 'rotten alien egg nest' - whatever strange spirit creature an alien is._

" _I can tell you're happy here, Yuki," he says. Every night she reads to Minokichi and his mother. She makes witty jokes about The Tale of Genji and Genji's many amorous affairs that leave Minokichi and his mother doubled over in laughter. And when she reads Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," she and Minokichi have lively discussions about the Chinese scholar's ideas and how they could apply to business practices. She smiles and laughs so easily, even when she and Minokichi disagree; he can't believe she doesn't enjoy it._

" _Besides," he says, gesturing towards the new workshop he's built, the new tools neatly lined along the walls. "My mother says you bring me luck."_

_It is meant to be light hearted, but when she answers her words are cold and cruel. "I brought you money, not luck. There is a difference."_

_Minokichi spins around. Fisting his hands at his side, his lips curl in a snarl. "Keep your money. Fine lady you may be, but I am not your kabuki boy prostitute!"_

_Yuki's body sags. "Minokichi..."_

_But he is already walking away, grabbing his kimono and flinging it on. "Get your things, we'll leave before dawn," he says._

_Yuki and Minokichi have a lie prepared for his mother. Minokichi is going to accompany Yuki to the city where the 'buyer of the sword' lives; it is on the way to Edo. There they will part ways. Minokichi hopes that he won't see his mother before he and Yuki leaves, sure that everything between the spirit woman and himself will be written on his angry face._

_To his despair, his mother soon awakens after he begins packing. He hears her in the kitchen preparing rice and Yuki's favorite, miso soup, for breakfast. He knows there will be no skipping the morning meal._

_At the table things are as quiet and tense as he imagines. Yuki does not say a word. And though it is childish, Minokichi can't bring himself to say anything either._

_It is his mother who breaks the silence. Pouring Yuki some tea with shaking hands, she says, "I am very sad you are leaving us, Yuki. I know you must miss your family in the realm of the spirits, but we will miss you here."_

_Yuki turns her head to Minokichi fast as a snake, and Minokichi drops his rice bowl._

_Putting the teapot down on the table, his mother says, "He told me nothing. Your socks did."_

_Yuki and Minokichi both turn to his mother._

_She is nodding her head, not looking at them. "So white on such a muddy day."_

_Yuki's eyes widen. Minokichi smiles. She thinks she is so wise, and yet his mother was always one step ahead of her._

_Yuki narrows her eyes at him briefly and then turns back to his mother. "You are right, Masako. And the samurai who wanted the sword was always me." Pulling the leather satchel from her kimono she says, "Here is the complete payment. I know you will spend it wisely on your family's behalf." She places the satchel in front of Minokichi's mother._

_There is no way to protest the coins without making a scene. Minokichi feels trapped and his chest feels too tight. Putting down his half finished bowl of rice, he says, "We should go now." It is a childish display, but he can barely keep from shouting._

" _Stay where you are," says Yuki, her frame softening. "There is no need for us both to get cold."_

" _No," says Minokichi, "I'm coming."_

_She sighs, and suddenly Minokichi and his mother are staring at empty air. The floorboards creak and the front door slams. Minokichi races to the entranceway and pushes his feet into his sandals. He races out into the chill early morning air, heart beating in his ears. It's starting to snow outside. He runs to the workshop - of course the sword is gone. He races around the house but doesn't see her anywhere. The wind picks up, and he hears his mother behind him._

" _Minokichi, a storm is coming," she says._

_Don't go, she means._

_Minokichi stands and bows his head. "Ki o' tsukete, Yuki," he says softly staring at the dark clouds of the coming storm. When the wind begins to pelt brittle snowflakes as sharp as shards of glass, he follows his mother inside the house to the warmth of the kitchen's hearth._

" _She barely touched her food," his mother says as he enters "It is her favorite..." But Minokichi is barely listening._

_The wind picks up, rattling the walls of the house and the paper windows. The storm doesn't abate the entire night. At one point, lying on his futon, Minokichi swears he hears a feminine wail of anger or despair over the roar of the storm. He believes it's his imagination...but it makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and he knows he won't go back to sleep._

_What hope would a man have with a spirit woman anyway? She isn't Japanese - even if she looks Japanese except for her green eyes. She could probably kill him with a thought...she thinks herself above him, that is obvious. He is just a toy to her. He closes his eyes, and sleep does come eventually._

_In the morning, his mother tries to rouse him, but Minokichi just pulls the down coverlet over him higher and hides his eyes. "You have to go on," his mother says. He knows it's true, but he can't bring himself to move._

_That is why when there is a knock at the door, it is his mother who opens it._

" _Eh, Yuki? Come in, come in!" his mother says._

_Minokichi is up a moment later. As he approaches the entranceway he sees Yuki there, on the step below them, head bowed. She raises her green eyes to him. "Am I still welcome to stay?" she asks. A Japanese girl would have said it head bowed. A Japanese girl would have asked his mother._

_Minokichi looks to his mother; she gives a small nod._

" _Yes," says Minokichi._

_And then Yuki does bow her head. Her hair is down and slightly wild._

" _I will make some tea," says Minokichi's mother._

_Minokichi just stands frozen, as does Yuki. When his mother is gone he whispers, "Thank you."_

_She shakes her head and says something, "I couldn't change..." and then she sighs and meets his eyes. "A man has a right to know his son...and a son has a right to know his father."_

_Minokichi's mouth drops at the implication of it. He doesn't doubt she knows the gender of the baby; but that they've conceived him, that she's keeping him - not planning to have the baby and dispose of him, or perhaps to use some magic to rip him from her womb, those are real wonders._

_He remembers how right she feels in his arms, and thinks perhaps, nature is stronger than magic, or culture._

" _Welcome home," Minokichi says._

_She slips out of her shoes and reaches forward as she prepares to climb the step. It is an odd movement. Minokichi hastens to grab her, worried that she might fall, and she smiles gratefully. As soon as she's up, he hastily withdraws his hand, the contact strange in public. A flicker of something...disappointment maybe, flashes across her face. He wonders what he has done wrong._

x x x x

"And we have something for you, too!" Darcy's uncle Ken says with a flourish, pushing a large box in her direction.

All around them are empty boxes. Some are the remains of the Chinese food they ordered for dinner. It's only Tuesday, and Darcy's brother Darryl is swearing that he will only be cooking one feast, thank-you-very-much.

The other boxes are the remnants of gifts for 2 week old Jessica, now asleep in Darcy's sister-in-law Emma's arms. Emma has bags under her eyes, her blonde hair is pulled up in a messy pony-tail, and her eyelids are at half-mast. She's sitting on the couch, leaning against Darcy's brother Darryl. Behind them is the New York City skyline. Her brother is ten years older than her, short, dark haired, and blue eyed. Super successful, he does something in finance that is just this side of legal. He's pretty cool. He'd even offered Darcy the chance to stay with Emma and him when she moved to New York, but Darcy hadn't wanted to be a third wheel.

"You shouldn't have," says Darcy. Seriously, Emma deserves a gift more than her.

"Don't be silly," says Uncle Ken. He is short, dark haired, blue eyed and built like a fire-plug, just like her father and brother - it's possible that Darcy didn't inherit her height from her mother's Japanese ancestors. "It's the right of fathers and gay uncles to get their daughters and nieces gifts..."

Darcy's eyes widen at the phrasing.

Her Uncle Ken flicks his wrist. "You'll be picking out our nursing homes...let us spoil you."

Darcy turns her attention to the rather large box. It's clothing, obviously. Swallowing, she opens it. Inside is a beautiful suit, a long jacket and a matching stretch pencil skirt in deep maroon. She doesn't doubt Uncle Ken picked it out.

"Thank you," she breathes.

Smiling, her father says, "You've got a big fancy job in the big city, you have to look the part!"

Her Dad turns to Emma and holds her a small gift. Shifting her arms to take it she says, "Are these the pictures of Darcy and Darryl's mother?" she whispers.

Looking a little misty eyed, her father says, "Yes."

Unwrapping the paper and opening the small photo album within, Emma says, "She's lovely! She looks a little more Japanese than these two - but what green eyes she has!"

Shaking his head, Darcy's father says, "You know, she said even her mother who was half Japanese had green eyes...green eyes must be a recessive trait in the gene pool..."

At that moment little Jessica begins to roll her head and make little sucking noises.

"She's hungry," says Emma. "I better go feed her...too many Y chromosomes in here."

"Oh, Honey," says Uncle Ken, "you don't have to leave. We don't mind."

Darcy clears her throat and looks pointedly at Ken. She can understand where Emma's coming from. She wouldn't want to pull out her boob in front of her family either.

Sighing as little Jessica begins to root at her shirt, Emma stands up and says, "I know, I know...but I feel like such a cow."

And suddenly Darcy feels like she is in a bad movie or a cartoon where the character's thoughts swim around the screen. In her head she's hearing Loki say, "It's my right," and Uncle Ken say, "Our right," and she hears Tony say, "Milking cow," and Jessica say, "I feel like a cow." She's remembers Loki's green eyes and her mother's and hears her dad say, "must be a recessive trait in the gene pool."

Her mouth drops. "I've got it!"

Everyone's eyes turn to her.

"Got what?" says her brother.

She narrows her eyes. "Something that's been nagging me at work." And she's sure as hell - or maybe  _Hel_ , going to fix it.


	4. Cultural Differences

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Darcy is walking through the halls of SHIELD, a hot coffee in her hands, when Jarvis' voice pipes through the air.  _"Mr. Thor Odinson is currently not in the presence of Mr. Loki Odinson_."

Darcy drops the coffee on the floor. Cursing, she piles the mess with paper napkins and says, "Where'd Thor go?"

" _He was recalled to Asgard."_

"I've got time!" Darcy sings, and several guys in black suits stare at her.

" _Uncertain,"_ says Jarvis.

"Right!" says Darcy, tossing her now empty cup into the bin. "Where is Loki?"

" _He is currently in the cafeteria, in the presence of Director Fury."_

Darcy swallows and bites her lip. She pauses only a heartbeat and then races down the hall.

She's out of breath when she reaches the cafeteria. Fury has his back to her, but Loki's facing the door - as soon as she enters the room he lifts his head.

Ignoring Fury, she walks straight to the table and says, "Can we talk in private?"

Loki's eyes widen.

Fury turns in his seat. "No."

Both Loki and Darcy turn to him. He shrugs. "Thor feels that speaking to you may derail Loki's recovery."

Darcy and Loki both speak at once. "What?"

Sighing, Fury says, "It seems kind of strange to me, too, but considering the risk of a relapse...I'm inclined to agree with him."

Scowling, Loki sprawls back in his seat. Darcy's mouth drops, but before she can say anything, Fury says, "For now."

Wait. What. Hold on... _For now_  implies wiggle room. Fury thinks Thor is full of manure, too?

Sitting up, Loki tilts his head, maybe reaching the same conclusion.

"You're welcome to say whatever you need to say in front of me, though," Fury says. He smiles - which is a bit scarier than his frown. "Just pretend I'm not here."

Darcy looks around. The cafeteria is full of women and men in black and gray suits. They are all staring at her. Okay, she can't say what she wants to say, but maybe she can say something close. Sliding into the seat next to Fury, she says, "I want to know about Yuki Onna...I want to know about my heritage."

Loki's head tilts, and the tiniest bit of a smile crosses his lips. And then the smile disappears and he says nothing.

Lowering his chin to his chest, Fury says, "I do, too."

Loki and Darcy both turn to stare at him.

Shrugging, Fury says, "I'm not here."

Loki says nothing.

Clearing her throat, Darcy says. "So...I've been thinking...it must have been really hard for someone raised a prince - princess, in the spirit world, to be married to a Japanese man. I mean, Japan isn't precisely known for it's enlightened attitudes towards women...And having his human children...I mean maybe human children..." She sputters to a stop.

Putting an elbow on the table, Fury leans on his hand and looks over at Loki expectantly. "Go on," says the Director.

Loki frowns.

Clearing her throat, Darcy almost whispers. "Must have been quite a drop in status." And that's what makes it the most difficult to believe that Yuki Onna could have been Loki. Because Loki is as prickly as a cat, and she knows he  _hates_  being second best, at least from what she's picked up from Jane, who's picked up bits from Thor.

Loki's frown deepens, but when he speaks his voice is surprisingly gentle. "In your enlightened age, in your progressive land, there are still men who treat women as mere objects to be status symbols, eye candy, and baby makers - who can't see women as equals. Why can't the reverse be true, too?"

Darcy blinks. Oddly it's Fury who speaks. "A smart man is always going to recognize the limitations and value of the people on his team - male, female, race, sexual orientation be damned. That transcends culture."

Darcy swivels her head in the one-eyed director's direction. But Loki seems unbothered by his participation. "Just so," he says. leaning towards Darcy a little more.

Darcy tilts her head. "But weren't you-Yuki Onna expected to walk 3 steps behind Minokichi in public? Can't see her being keen on that."

Loki laughs softly and looks at the water in the glass sitting in front of him. "Ah - that." He squeezes the glass in front of him and it frosts over. "Cross cultural comparisons are so fraught with the potential for misunderstanding...there were difficulties in Minokichi's and Yuki's relationship, but they did not stem from Yuki being treated as a second class human being by her husband. In the Masada household, Yuki reigned as queen."

x x x x

_Yuki sits in front of a knee high table. It is piled high with nearly eight years' worth of ledgers recording every account, every salary, every vendor and client contract she has managed and tracked since she began living with the Masadas years ago._

_The room around her is very different than the rooms of the hut the Masadas lived in when she first arrived. This room is bigger than the entire hut. Fresh tatami mats line the floors. Delicate paper screens allow in light from the outside. There is an alcove with a small shrine and a flower arrangement, a handmade gift from one of their samurai patrons._

_Yuki cannot see any of that, however. All she sees is red. "I will kill him," she says. She hears a servant in the hallway just outside the room drop something and scamper away._

_She stands up from the table, awkwardly clutching her full midriff, courtesy of her fourth pregnancy. Outside she hears soft footfalls, and then Masako pokes her head into the room. She smiles at Yuki. "You are going into labor, again. Would you like a bath?"_

" _I am not going into labor. I cannot go into labor - not until Hachiuma pays up! He's months overdue!"_

_Masako smiles at her indulgently. In general, the mother-in-law is the person in the household young wives fear most. But Masako and Yuki get along fine. At first Yuki thought it was because Masako was afraid of her. Then she thought it was because Masako was grateful to her - Yuki pushed Minokichi to sell the sword he made for her to build his reputation, and then when Minokichi's master's son tried to declare him an unlicensed sword maker, Yuki made sure appropriate papers that proved otherwise were 'found.' Now she suspects that Masako just finds her easy to manage._

_In Asgard, when Yuki was Loki, she thought she was a master of subtlety. In Japan she finds that she is too clumsy, too demanding - virtually a child in comparison to the Japanese._

_Nodding, Masako says, "Some women clean house when they are about to go into labor; you clear the books. I'll have the servants draw a bath."_

_Yuki grumbles, but Masako is already gone._

_Grabbing Hachiuma's contract from the table - and nearly tipping over in the process - she storms out of the room and down the long hallway...in Asgard it would be considered a porch. It is open on one side to the elements, though it is covered._

_It is early spring, and the air is cool. She hears the sounds of birds, the traffic of the town beyond the wall that surrounds the house, and the loud squeak of floorboards. The floorboards creak on purpose - it is nigh impossible for someone to traverse them without alerting the whole house to their presence. Not that Yuki would ever allow anyone who wished her family ill intent even near the town...as a few masterless samurai turned bandits had discovered not 10 months ago._

_Rounding a corner, Yuki approaches the back garden. She is about to shout something about having Hachiuma drawn and quartered, but she stops herself, just in time. The children are in the garden._

_It's Minokichi's one day off and he is with them, their two boys, Masao nearly 8, Kyochan 6, and their daughter, Aiko, just 3. The two boys are playing with kedama - a ball and stick game. Aiko is on Minokichi's shoulders; he's alternating between spinning around and pretending to be too dizzy to stand up. Aiko thinks it's hilarious._

_Yuki bites her lip...she's still angry. But scenes like this one make her heart hurt. She doesn't remember such easy affection between herself and Odin...or even between Odin and Thor. Perhaps Odin would have been less restrained if he were a commoner, not a king, but it isn't just that. There is nothing unmanly about Japanese men holding a baby or commenting on how 'kawaii' a baby or small child is. 'Kawaii' isn't even a concept that Asgardians have a word for - but it seems to be a descriptor for anyone or anything with large eyes._

_Minokichi isn't primarily responsible for the children's care, he's too busy with work. But when he's around, he's very affectionate with them. If Yuki ever returns to Asgard and has legitimate children, she will never be able to dote as much on them as Minokichi does. She sighs, and scowls. When and if she returns..._

_Catching her eye and seeing her scowl, Minokichi, comes to a halt with Aiko still laughing. Putting Aiko down he says, "Masao, take your brother and sister to see your grandmother."_

_As the children scamper off, Minokichi slips off his shoes and climbs onto the porch, stopping just a pace away. Yuki suddenly remembers her anger. "Hachiuma must die!" she whispers._

_An Asgardian male would put his hands on her shoulders and kiss her cheek to calm her. But Minokichi is not affectionate with Yuki, even in private. The most clod-headed Asgardian male would be more demonstrative. The most clod-headed Asgardian would also say "I love you," whether or not he meant it. But Japanese doesn't even have a word for romantic love between a man and a woman._

_So now, as she fumes in anger, Minokichi doesn't move or say soothing words. He just smiles slightly at her - the natural Japanese response to stress. Yuki_ knows _the smile is not because he's laughing her, but it makes her_ feel _as though he's laughing. Even after all these years. "He deserves to die! He takes advantage of all the merchants and the artisans!"_

_Minokichi nods his head. "But if he's dead, he can pay no one."_

_Yuki glares at him._

_He smiles a little more. He's very uncomfortable. He hates these negotiations they have - they have many negotiations, and many misunderstandings. She likes Minokichi a great deal, and even respects him. He respects her. He never belittles her, hands over all his money and trusts her completely to handle all their finances, he doesn't solicit prostitutes or have affairs - unlike Odin, and he's given her a very nice lifestyle...if a one much less opulent than she's used to. But their cultures are just so different._

_She huffs. "Fine. I'll just send an angry ghost to remind him of his debt to us!"_

_Minokichi relaxes, and the smile disappears. "If you do, it might be better if the ghost reminded him to pay all his debts, not just ours, neh?"_

_When a Japanese person says 'it might be better' they do not mean 'might,' they mean, 'do it this way, you idiot'!_

_She huffs and looks at the ground. "I suppose that will make it appear that we are not somehow the source of the haunting." Yuki purses her lips. "It would be no good if people in the village realize I am a spirit."_

" _Eh..." says Minokicihi._

_There's something evasive in his expression, but before she can process it, he holds out his arm. "Here," he says, "take hold."_

_Yuki is so shocked - affection! Unasked for, non-sexual, and potentially in the presence of servants. Smiling, she takes it._

_Minokichi shakes his head. "Is mother preparing a bath for you?"_

" _Yes," she says. "Why?"_

" _Eh...when you start wanting to kill someone, I know we are about to have another baby," he says with a smile. But this smile isn't uncomfortable. "I'm just glad it's not me you want to kill."_

_"I am not..." Her voice trails as the first contraction hits._

_Minokichi chuckles a little, but not unkindly. And he even pats the top of the hand resting on his arm. He may not have a word for love, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love her._

x x x x

_Minokichi walks a little stiffly through the bookshop, book closed in his hand - it isn't from sore muscles, or aching joints, though his physical occupation gives him those. Ever since the incident a year ago when Yuki protected a group of women from some wandering ronin, masterless samurai, he's been a little on edge when he leaves the workshop. Women are allowed to defend themselves when attacked, every Japanese woman carries a knife...but Yuki had defended herself and her companions a little too well. She plucked five knives seemingly from the air, hurled them at the ronins' throats, and didn't miss a single target._

_The late lord of the land, Lord Yoshida, had kindly ascribed the ronins' deaths to bandits - which saved Yuki from the questioning that normally happens when an artisan battled the upper class._

_Minokichi sighs to himself. And Yuki was so proud of herself for using 'barely any magic.'_

_Looking up over the cover of the book he is holding, he gazes through a slightly opened screen. This bookshop used not to be here. Since his workshop has become so successful, the little village has turned into a town._

_He shakes his head. More people to wonder about his unusual wife. He turns to gaze at her. She is standing at the counter with the children, their new baby boy, Hiro-chan, on her back._

_Four children later and she is still as slender and youthful as she was when they met - of course, people notice. He's urged her to affect some wrinkles or gray hair. And she obliges, but then forgets and they melt away. He'd swear that she's grown a little taller, and her eyes have become a little wider, too. Thankfully, her hair is still jet black. And thankfully their children all look Japanese - though perhaps a little fairer, taller, and with flecks of gold in their brown eyes. At the moment Masao is reading aloud. Yuki is teaching them all reading and arithmetic. She neither cooks nor cleans, but when she isn't managing household or business finances, she is a very attentive mother. She's told Minokichi that spending time with their children is one of the few luxuries of the human world. He knows she likes him, but he also knows that is primarily why she stays._

_He understands. Theirs is not an easy marriage. They have more confrontations - or as Yuki calls them, 'negotiations', than any couple he knows._

_Although...Minokichi looks down at the book in his hands and smiles a little to himself. He opens the book. He can barely read, but somethings you don't have to be lettered to understand. He coughs a little to get Yuki's attention._

_Hearing him, Yuki turns and walks over. Peeking over his shoulder, she gasps at the picture of an octopus in a very passionate embrace with a barely clothed young woman._

_He smiles at her and she rolls her eyes. Snatching the book from him, she slips it under her arm. He knows she'll purchase it. Her volatility, emotional nature and curiosity have kept their relationship passionate. At first Minokichi thought it was despite their many confrontations. Now he wonders if it is because of them._

_There is the creaking of floorboards and Nakamura, the elderly shopkeeper, appears from the back of the shop with a parcel. "Here are the books you ordered from Edo," he says, smiling at Yuki. As she takes them the shopkeeper says, "Did you know Hachiuma is in town?"_

_As Yuki shakes her head, Nakamura says, "Apparently he has taken to seeing an angry ghost. It comes nightly to his manor and urges him to pay his debts. Hachiuma came here just before you arrived."_

_It is a round about way of saying, 'he paid his debt to me'._

_The shopkeeper bows at Yuki and says, "Please take these prints as a gift."_

_Minokichi's mouth drops. A round about way of saying 'thank you'?_

_At that moment the shoji screen to the outside slides open and in clatters Nakamura's wife and teenage daughter. Minokichi's eyes narrow. Both women were with Yuki the day the ronin attacked._

_Nakamura's wife runs over to Yuki, "Yuki-san, why don't you come have tea with us in the back? We haven't had a chance to really see your new baby."_

" _Yes," says the daughter, "let's go in the back."_

_From outside the shop comes the sound of hooves, and then someone shouts, "Make way for the Lord Yoshida!"_

_Minokichi straightens. It is the son of the same late lord who so generously falsified the statement of the ronins' deaths. The son is not known for being as gentle with commoners as his father._

" _The new lord," says old Mr. Nakamura. He sighs. "He is...younger. Yuki-san, why don't you go have tea in the back with my wife and daughter?"_

_Yuki looks between their faces and Minokichi's. Uncertain about this sudden rush of hospitality, he still nods at her. She turns to go, but then from outside someone yells, "We seek Masada Minokichi!"_

_Yuki stops and spins around._

_Outside there are murmurs._

" _He probably just wants a sword," Minokichi whispers._

_The shoji screen at the front of the shop bangs open and two samurai walk in. Everyone in the shop immediately bows, even the children. Failing to show proper respect to the warrior class is punishable by death._

" _Masada Minokichi!" one of the samurai shouts._

_Minokichi bows a little lower. "That is me."_

" _Step forward," says the samurai. As Minokichi does, the samurai and his partner take places on either side of the door, allowing a man in his early 20s to enter. His opulent clothing, his heavier frame, and greater height immediately identify him as the young Lord Yoshida._

" _So you're the rich sword-maker who used to be a poor woodcutter," says Lord Yoshida._

_Minokichi, not breaking his bow, only nods._

" _Hmmm..." says Yoshida. "It is unusual for a wood merchant to rise in station...some might argue, illegal."_

_Minokichi tenses. The shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, had issued a law prohibiting the movement between social classes. But between the lowest classes, artisans and merchants, leeway is usually tolerated._

_Yoshida paces the room, surveying all the occupants, and Minokichi feels something in his stomach tighten. He knows Yuki will bow, but if the lord calls on her, he knows her face will show no fear. He takes a deep breath. But the lord would have no reason to call on her, so he must be calm...it will not happen...it cannot happen..._

_Coming to a stop in front of Yuki, Yoshida says, "You, woman! Rise!"_

_Minokichi's heart sinks and his body goes cold. From the corner of his eye he sees Yuki straighten._

_Yoshida narrows his eyes and looks her up and down._

_At Minokichi's sides, his hands tighten into fists. It's a strange thing, but Minokichi finds his fear morphing into anger - he wants to barrel into the man and knock him to the ground. He sees Aiko, Masao and Kyochan bowing, close to their mother. Minokichi can't afford to act on his heart. He must be strong._

" _What interesting eyes you have," Lord Yoshida says._

_Yuki says nothing, but she gazes straight at the lord completely without fear._

" _Where did you find such a woman, sword-maker!" the lord says._

" _On the road to Tatsuno," says Minokichi, trying not to grit his teeth._

" _Lucky," says Yoshida. "You know the shogun has issued an edict that any foreigners must be immediately put to death - and anyone who harbors them must be executed as well."_

_Yoshida steps a little closer to Yuki. Minokichi knows she isn't even flinching. In fact, her eyes are probably shooting daggers._

" _I suppose your features are unusual, but they are not ugly," the lord says. He chuckles and turns to Minokichi. "I heard from my father how she killed five ronin. Do you let your wife walk in front of you, sword-maker?"_

_Minokichi's face goes hot as the other samurai chuckle. At the beginning of their marriage Yuki had actually resisted walking behind him. Yuki understood the man walked first to protect his wife, but argued since she was the more deadly, she should draw any enemy blades. She only relented when Minokichi told her he wouldn't be able to live with himself if a bandit or ronin struck at her first._

_Of course, the one time she was attacked he wasn't there...and now...his fingers clench more tightly at his side and he feels the prickle of angry tears at the corner of his eyes._

" _Sword-maker," Lord Yoshida says, stepping closer to Minokichi, "I desire a sword."_

_As he says it, he turns to look at Yuki. Minokichi's eyes narrow to keep his hot tears at bay. A sword is not all Yoshida desires, that is obvious. But he is the lord, and Minokichi merely says, "Yes, sir."_

x x x x

"And so the lord of the land asked Minokichi to make him a sword," Loki says, slowly turning the coffee cup in his hands. "I think it was Doestevsky who wrote that any couple can live happily - but the outside world will drive them apart." He scowls at his cup. "Or was it Tolstoy?"

Darcy swallows. "So, I have this idea that Yuki...ummm...leaving...wasn't as simple as Minokichi speaking of that first night in the snowstorm?"

Smirking, eyes still on the cup, Loki says, "How could a spirit hide her identity from her husband? She couldn't even keep it from the town."

From outside there is the crack of thunder. Darcy jumps in her seat.

Sitting up straight, Fury says, "Is that Thor?"

Loki grits his teeth. "Speaking of the outside world..."

Fury scowls at Loki. "Is he coming all the way from Asgard so that you don't tell Japanese fairy tales to Lewis?"

Ignoring Fury, Loki looks at Darcy. His eyes are resigned. "Not all fairy tales have happy endings," he says. And then there is a swirl of green and Loki is gone.

Fury turns his one eye on her. It narrows.

Darcy swallows.

At that moment, Thor bursts into the cafeteria. "Where is Loki?" He shouts.

Standing, Fury shouts back. "I have no idea!"

Darcy's about to jump up and yell at Thor, but Fury drops a heavy hand on her shoulder. Darcy tries to stand up, but that hand is surprisingly heavy.

In his most commanding, scary, ominous tones Fury says to the God-of-Inconvenient-Tantrums, "Find him now! I'll take care of the girl."

Thor looks a little confused, but he nods and storms out.

As soon as Thor's out of the room, Fury's hand leaves her shoulder and Darcy stands up. She turns to give Fury a piece of her mind, but then she sees the smile on the Director's face. His smiles are really, reall,y scary.

"Miss Lewis," he says, his voice a disturbing purr. "You have some explaining to do. Come with me _. Now_."


	5. Cold Shot

Director Fury steps into a room that's only about 12' x 12' wide. Its white walls, floor and ceiling are lined with wires, she thinks she detects a slight ambient hum. A single light hangs from the ceiling above a table and a chair in the middle of the room. And a small brown metal box sits in one corner. There are no windows, no security cameras that Darcy can see, or even a freakin' one-way mirror.

"Uh," says Darcy pausing at the entrance way.

"Step in and close the door," says Fury, back turned to her.

Swallowing, Darcy says, "Um, are you going to kill me?" She's only half joking.

Turning to her, Fury gives her a withering look. "Get in here."

Darcy looks down the hall they just came from. Two guys in black suits are standing there with their arms crossed.

"Right," says Darcy, not sure if she believes him, but certain she isn't going to get past his security detail either. She steps in and closes the door behind her. Fury walks over to the small brown metal box on the floor and says, "Would you like a shot of milk?"

Darcy blinks, wondering if it is some sort of trick question. "Errr...no, that's alright."

"Suit yourself," says Fury nodding at the single chair. "Have a seat."

Darcy goes quietly to the chair.

Kneeling down, Fury turns the metal box around. It's one of those little mini-fridges they have in hotel rooms. Opening it, he pulls out a pint of milk and a shot glass. "We just made this room operational, but it has yet to have proper amenities." He pours himself a shot of milk and straightens. Gesturing around the room he says, "This, Miss Lewis, is a Heimdall Free Zone. The gatekeeper can't see in here - well, that's not entirely true. He will hear us having a lovely conversation about the weather. You'll also notice that there are no windows - "

Darcy looks around. "Errr...yeah, I did notice that."

Scowling slightly at her, Fury continues, " - so no passing ravens will read our lips."

Downing his shot of milk, Fury sets the glass on the table with a loud clunk. "Now, Miss Lewis, you will tell me why Heimdall was watching your conversation with Loki and why Odin would authorize an energy intensive re-opening of the Bifrost to break up your little chat."

Darcy swallows. "Umm..."

Fury glares.

Darcy opens her mouth. For a moment no sound comes out. And then in a rush she says "I think that Loki is, well...my ancestor."

Fury's single brow goes up, and he half sits down on the table next to her. "You're joking."

Darcy shakes her head.

The big guy's brow wrinkles. "Ancestor like great-great-something-grandfather?"

Darcy nods her head. "Something like that."

Fury scowls, and his nostrils flare slightly. "And they don't like this...because you're human?"

"Replace the words great-great-something-grandfather with  _grandmother_ ," says Darcy.

Fury stares at her for a moment, and then he stands up so quickly the table legs scrape across the floor. Turning away from her, he rubs his head. "Fucking macho Asgardians!" Snatching the glass from the table he says, "Start from the beginning, tell me how you figured all this out..." Walking towards the refrigerator he says, "I can tell I'm going to need another shot."

By the time Darcy's done with the whole story, Fury has drunk the whole pint of milk. His eyes - well, eye, is oddly soft. He gives a sigh. "Miss Lewis, do you know why Loki didn't go back to Asgard with his brother?"

Darcy shakes her head.

Holding the empty shot glass in his hand, Fury says, "As we have had it explained to us, there is another device in Asgard. It's called the Casket of Ancient Winters. Apparently, it resonates at a frequency that interacts with Loki's unique physiology and has been slowly driving him mad - for centuries."

"Oh," says Darcy.

Fury rubs his eye. "And then, of course, there is what happened to him in the Void when the Chitauri got their hands on him...the first and second time..."

Fury doesn't elaborate. She's glad. She knows Loki was tortured, precise details aren't necessary. She shivers even though the room is warm.

"...and now he's reaching out to you, and Asgard's trying to stop it." Fury walks around the room. Darcy looks down at her hands. Loki can't go  _home._ He's stuck here without family and can't claim the family he has. Her hands ball into fists on her lap.

"Loki helped us build this room," Fury says, looking up at the snaking wires. "He's furthered our understanding of time, dark matter, and dark energy by decades. On our side, Loki may be a greater asset to Earth than Thor, but he's got to stay sane."

Darcy nods.

Looking down at her, Fury says, "One thing that keeps us sane, Miss Lewis, is our connection to others. Loki apparently desires your company, you don't seem to mind...we have to get Asgard out of the way."

"Oh," says Darcy. Well, that wasn't exactly what she expected to hear. Her brow furrows. "How?"

"I have no idea," says Director Fury. "But you'll figure it out."

"Me?" Darcy squeeks.

Fury gives her one of those scary smiles. "I'm sure you'll think of something. You seem to have an innate ability for mischief."

Darcy blinks. Is that a compliment?

Stepping towards the door, he pauses and looks back. "Oh, and Lewis, hurry it up."

Darcy stares at him with wide eyes.

Shrugging, Fury says, "Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. The man shouldn't be without family on Thanksgiving."

With that, he leaves.

Darcy just sits bonelessly in the chair. Well...this is kind of...great. And not.

x x x x

_On the walk home the children dash out in front of Minokichi and Yuki. It is a good thing. Minokichi is afraid that if he opens his mouth his rage will spill out. His nostrils flare and his hands ball in helpless fists at his side. He gives a sidelong glance at Yuki._

_The look on her face chills him. He had expected to see rage. Instead he sees fear. Minokichi draws to a stop._

_Yuki meets his eyes. "I have sent a ghost to spy on the lord..." Her head drops. "He has told all his men I am a gaijin."_

_Minokichi straightens. So the lord lied when he pretended to accept Yuki's origins. And for the crime of sheltering her Minokichi will face death, and their children may be sold into slavery._

_She takes a shuddering breath. "I have to kill them. All of them. His retainers, his servants, everyone in the village that has overheard..."_

_Minokichi sucks in a breath. He wants to kill Yoshida...but all his servants, innocent villagers. His stomach is a swirl of twisting emotions._

" _But if I do that, it will require magic - a lot of magic," Yuki says. She closes her eyes, "So many people have heard...If I use so much magic my people will see."_

_The hairs at the back of Minokichi's neck prickle. They don't speak of Yuki's 'people.'_

" _And if they do see, Yuki?" Minokichi says._

_Yuki meets his eyes. "My family...will think I have disgraced them."_

_Minokichi looks down at the ground. Of course. She is a spirit princess. He is a commoner, a son of a wood cutter._

" _What would your family do to our children?" Minokichi asks. He doesn't care about himself...the way Yoshida was looking at Yuki, the talk of her being gaijin, he thinks he may already be dead._

_Yuki doesn't answer the question. Which is an answer._

_After a moment she says, "I do not know what to do."_

_Minokichi drops a hand on hers. "Kill no one." He does not want the weight of innocent souls on hers. And the villagers know Yuki is a spirit; if Yoshida dies they may spread the word. People may not love the lord, but killing him for the crime of looking too hard at another man's wife would be seen as extreme._

" _We could move," Yuki says. "Somewhere else..."_

_Minokichi raises his eyebrows. To travel anywhere, papers are required. To move household requires even more, and to leave Japan itself is forbidden. "Even if you could fake papers, Yuki, you could not fake memories. Our new neighbors would regard us as strangers. We'd face the same dangers we face here - but without any friends." He thinks of the bookseller trying to protect them._

_Yuki sighs. "With magic I could..." She closes her eyes. "But that would require more power than sending ghosts about. It would be seen by my people."_

_Minokichi clenches his jaw._

" _What do we do?" Yuki asks again._

_Minokichi looks at the ground and nods. "I will make Lord Yoshida a sword."_

_x x x x_

_Yuki stands in the workshop, a tray of tea in hand. It is night. Although it is normal for employees to remain until their master has finished, Minokichi has sent everyone home. He is sitting on a tatami mat on the floor, polishing a long elegant blade by the light of a paper lantern on a low table._

_At the sound of her footsteps he looks up. "Eh, You," he says._

_It would be an insult in Asgard to be addressed such a way. In Japan, a society that values the collective over the individual, to be 'You' is to be special, to be an individual worthy of note, of care, of love - even if there is not really a Japanese word for it._

_Nodding, Yuki slips off her sandals, steps up from the foyer onto the tatami. She puts the tray on the table by her husband. As Yuki lays out the cups, Minokichi puts the sword aside, picks up the teapot, and pours tea into her cup. He puts the pot down, turning the handle to her, and she takes it and pours tea into his cup. It is a little ritual they have - it's not Japanese, and definitely not Asgardian, it's just theirs._

_As they lift the tea to their lips, Yuki looks at the sword. It's a beautiful thing, perhaps Minokichi's finest to date. Yoshida will come to claim it tomorrow. "One more day," she whispers._

_Minokichi nods. "Yes."_

_Yuki brings the cup to her lips, but it slips from her fingers, falling to the tray with a crack. Putting down his cup quickly, Minokichi takes her hand. It is trembling, and Yuki is suddenly fighting back tears. Her lips curl in frustration. It's the one thing she hates about being female - the damnable hormones and crying._

_Minokichi brings her hands to his lips, pauses and meets her eyes. It is so much like first time so long ago._

_The traitorous tears slip from Yuki's eyes, she presses her forehead to Minokichi's, and then they fall into each other, kissing and nipping, their hands everywhere - trying to hold on. Yuki is sure it is goodbye._

_x x x x_

_Later as they lay legs and fingers entwined, Minokichi says, "Yuki, Lord Yoshida has not turned us in. Do not give up hope."_

_But it isn't really Yoshida or even his small army Yuki is afraid of. She is afraid of Asgard._

_If Yoshida tries to hurt her family, Yuki will fight back - and she will win. However, after such a confrontation her family could not remain in Japan. When the shogun sealed his country off from the world, many Japanese expats were stranded on foreign shores. Yuki could take her family to one of those enclaves. But Minokichi is right; they would be strangers. And such a move would require a great deal of magic. Asgard would know._

_In Asgard, there is no greater sin than being argr, unmanly. The worst offense a man can commit is to allow himself to be penetrated. Yuki always regarded this taboo with scepticism. She - he - is well read. She knows the elves, the ancient Romans and Greeks, and even her Japanese hosts, regard such relationships differently._

_When she was Loki, he had been curious and sexually frustrated enough to try relations with another man. Most Aesir did try, if only because their lives were long and boring. Loki knew that even the ultra-manly Thor had experimented, and he'd heard whispers of Odin's adventures as a young man. In Loki's own case, the experiment had not worked. He doesn't know if it is because he internalized the stigma, or maybe if, having a female form, he has a different outlet for desires with men._

_She presses her forehead against Minokichi's cheek. All she does know is that in his male form it had felt wrong, but as a woman, being with a man feels right._

_She has no doubt that Asgardians will see it differently. Not only has Yuki been the imagined 'submissive' partner, she's borne children. The Aesir are not averse to killing children for the sins of their parents._

_In the flickering light of the lantern, Yuki squeezes Minokichi's fingers. Even if Yoshida doesn't try anything, how long can she really stay here before Asgard starts to look? Yuki is centuries old, the eight years she's spent away is the blink of an eye - she didn't lie when she told Minokichi she wouldn't be missed...but as years stretch into decades that will change._

_Her stomach feels as empty as the void beyond the Bifrost. She wants to sink into the earth and disappear, she buries her face in Minokichi's neck and closes her eyes._

_Yuki isn't sure how it is possible that Minokichi or she fall asleep - they are both so tense. But when she opens her eyes it is to morning light and the sound of a bell being rung by the front gate. She hears servants running, and then someone shouts, "It is a servant of Lord Hachiuma!"_

_Raising themselves, Minokichi and Yuki meet one another's eyes. Lord Hachiuma is the lord who owes them money, the one Yuki sent an "angry ghost" to haunt. Scrambling to their feet, they put on their clothes as best they can and go to the house. As they cross the yard Yuki catches the scent of rain._

_On Yuki's orders Lord Hachiuma's servant is given breakfast while Minokichi and Yuki make themselves presentable. When they meet the man a good half hour later, rain is thrumming against the roof. In the distance there is thunder._

_It is for perhaps that reason that the servant doesn't hear them approach. He is still eating ravenously when they walk in the room. Samurai are ostensibly the highest caste in Japanese society, but many of them are poorer than rice farmers. Lord Hachiuma is poor, and his servant is poorer still. He is gaunt and dressed in rags Yuki would never allow her help to be seen in._

_As their shadows settle over him, he drops the bowl of rice and chopsticks in his hands and bows to the floor. As they sit down he says, "My lord cannot repay you in gold, but he can pay you in information."_

_Yuki straightens and arches an eyebrow. The servant doesn't meet her eyes, he just presses his head harder against the tatami mats, as though he's trying to hide._

_Beside her Minokichi says, "Go on."_

_Wiggling a little, the servant squeaks. "Please, if I speak, will the mistress call off the angry ghost?"_

_Yuki's eyes go wide. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

_The servant makes a little whimpering noise._

" _I am sure if the information you have is of value, the ghost and your master's guilty conscience will disappear," says Minokichi. Yuki scowls a little at how perfect the statement is. It isn't a confirmation or a denial - It is annoying how much better at diplomacy Minokichi is despite his younger age. His culture gives him an unfair advantage._

_The servant takes a deep breath. "My lord Hachiuma has heard that when Lord Yoshida comes today to claim his sword, he will claim the mistress Yuki as his concubine."_

_Yuki half stands up, but Minokichi puts a hand on her arm. "And if we refuse?"_

_The servant swallows. "He will accuse you of harboring a gaijin. You will be executed, and the villagers, too. Your children will be sold into slavery."_

_Yuki hisses._

_Minokichi makes a low hum._

_The servant swallows again. "Lord Hachiuma thought knowing before hand...would give you time to prepare." At those words he crawls backwards on the floor._

_Yuki's body goes hot. Beside her, Minokichi only says, "Thank you. You may go."_

_As he leaves the room, Yuki closes her eyes, Heimdall be damned...she will make Yoshida pay. She can see the Lord, on horseback, still 7 miles away in the rain...the damned rain. If it weren't for the rain she would set him on fire._

_There is the crack of lightening, and the boom of thunder. On the roof the rain intensifies. All the hairs on the back of Yuki's neck rise. From down the hall comes the sound of little feet. "Mother, father, the lightening is scary!" screams their daughter Aiko running into the room, her brothers, and their grandmother only a few steps behind._

_From the courtyard comes a cry of one of their servants. "A lord approaches!"_

_As their children wrap themselves around them, Minokichi says, "Lord Yoshida already?"_

" _No," says Yuki, her eyes going wide. "It is not Lord Yoshida."_

" _Yuki?" says Masako, the baby in her arms._

_From over the sound of the rain comes a voice Yuki has not heard in eight years. "Loki! Let me in!" The shout is not in Japanese. Everyone in the room looks at her._

" _It is my brother," she says._

x x x x

After her conversation with Fury, Darcy goes home. She has a mission and can't afford distractions like work.

When you have a problem, the first place you go - after a coffee shop and home - is Google. Darcy stays up late into the night researching Norse so-called-gods, Viking culture, Pagan culture, and attitudes towards homosexuality and shapeshifting. The internets are dominated by stories of Loki's supposed eight-legged horse-child that he had by a stallion while in the form of a mare. Darcy makes a mental note never to bring that up with him...she lived in New Mexico, she's been around horses... _if_ Loki was  _raped_ by a horse and wants to talk about it, she'll be there for him. Otherwise she's not bringing it up.

It takes a lot of sifting through stories about her maybe 8-hoofed-cousin but she finally does find what she's looking for around midnight. It takes her another 3 hours to put her plan in action. She could go to sleep at that point, but she's wired on caffeine and adrenaline. So at 3:45 a.m. she checks in at the security checkpoint at Stark Tower.

"Jarvis!" she calls out as the security guards let her through. "Where is Loki?"

"He is in his rooms," Jarvis replies.

"Take me to him," Darcy says, striding confidently as she can to the elevator bank. Inside, though, she's a bundle of nerves. "Ummm...and can you not tell Thor I'm coming?"

"Negative, I'm afraid, Miss Lewis," says Jarvis. "I'm afraid that would go against my programming."

"Right," says Darcy, sucking in a tight breath. She catches her reflection in the polished steel doors and almost does a double take. She's wearing a down jacket over her favorite, warmest, softest, green plaid flannel jammies. Under her arm is a digital tablet. Not exactly battle gear. And she doesn't even have her taser - the guards would have taken it.

The doors open and Darcy steps in. Looking up at the ceiling she says, "Can you at least not tell Thor that I'm on my way?"

When Jarvis speaks, she can swear she almost hears a smile in his voice. "My orders are only to tell Thor when you are in his brother's immediate company or speaking with him via phone or electronic device."

Biting her lip, Darcy nods tightly. She'll have a little time then. "Let's do this thing!" Before she's even finished, the elevator is taking off to floors unknown. When it stops, the doors open directly into what looks like the darkened foyer of a large suite. Jarvis' voice whispers, "I won't tell Thor until you are in Loki's immediate company."

"Great," says Darcy, stepping out of the elevator. "If you can just tell me where Loki is..."

There is a swirl of green and she bumps into something dark and solid, her glasses tumbling to the floor.

"Loki is now directly in front of you," says Jarvis. "I am afraid I will have to alert Thor now."

Two large strong hands land on Darcy's shoulder. She's pushed back, but gently, and two very green, almost glowing eyes are peering at her. Dim green light rises in the room. As Darcy's eyes adjust she notices Loki's wearing pajamas too, but his are green silk. His hair isn't greased back, instead it curls around his face in wild ringlets - a lot like her hair when it's short, actually.

"Darcy, what are you doing here?" he says. His hands don't leave her shoulders.

"I came to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner with my family," Darcy says quickly. "With  _your_  family."

The room isn't very bright, but Darcy can see Loki swallow. The hands on her shoulders tighten, just a tad. "Thank you."

Darcy beams. "You're coming?" She had no idea it would be that easy.

A hardness settles on Loki's features. He straightens a bit, but his hands don't move. "No, but I appreciate the thought...you...are mistaken...and it would be inappropriate."

He doesn't let her go.

"But..." Darcy begins.

Loki closes his eyes and drops his hands. "I made a promise to my family I would not bring them any more dishonor."

It's too much for Darcy. Plunging forward, she wraps her arms around Loki, tablet still clutched awkwardly half in hand. Pressing her forehead to his chest she hangs on for dear life. "But it's so stupid!" she says into the silky fabric of his pajamas. She hopes she doesn't get snot on it.

Loki stands stock still. His body is strangely cool. "Darcy, I tried to invade your world, I tried to destroy another...and Thor...Thor came to rescue me...you cannot understand what he endured, the shame my family endured at my dishonor. I gave my oath, I will not cause them any more shame."

Darcy tightens her grip. "What about what  _you_  have endured?" she sniffs.

Loki's body stiffens, and then he sighs. "Child..." he whispers. His arms wrap around her and she feels his head fall on top of hers. He begins to rock a little, and Darcy knows... _knows_...that this is some sort of goodbye to him, that he thinks that he will never get to do this again.

The elevator dings behind them. Loki drops his arms quickly and Darcy straightens. She begins to push her glasses up her nose before she realizes they aren't there. "I have not yet begun to fight!" she says raising a fist. Loki raises an eyebrow and then shakes his head.

Booming from behind her comes Thor's voice. "Loki!"

Darcy spins. Director Fury is standing in the elevator with Thor. Thor is wearing plaid jammies that look a lot like her own, only red. Fury is wearing navy blue pinstripe pajamas with a dark black silk robe.

"Miss Lewis," the director says with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

For a moment no breath comes out of her mouth. Isn't he on her side?

Fury shakes his head. "Against my explicit orders...Why, I may have to replace the Folgers coffee on your floor with the horrid Red Panama Gesha stuff from Barrington Coffee."

"Panama Gesha?" says Loki. Thor turns to the the Director and scowls. "I quite enjoy that blend...is it considered lowly?"

Darcy blinks. Panama Gesha...that's like...that's like heaven in a cup. Brandishing her tablet like a shield she says to Thor, "I have come to invite Loki to _our_  family's Thanksgiving Dinner! And you aren't going to stop me!"

"Loki, did you agree to this?" Thor says.

Loki holds up his hands, looking annoyed. "No, I..."

"But he will, or you will all face the consequences, Thor!" Darcy says, turning on her tablet.

"He will?" says Loki.

"Consequences?" says Thor. He snorts and smiles a bright, cheery, annoying, sunny smirk. "Lady Darcy, even without armor, your taser cannot harm me now."

"If you don't let Loki come to my party I'll tell the truth to the world!" says Darcy.

Loki's eyes go wide.

Thor's eyes narrow. "You will tell of your heritage?" He huffs a very unfriendly laugh.

Darcy laughs right back. "You wish."

Thor smirks and crosses his arms. "Then what, pray tell -"

Stamping her foot, Darcy closes her eyes and shouts, "Odin takes it up the butt!"

She opens her eyes. Loki's mouth has dropped and his eyes are wide. Fury's one eye is blinking rapidly. Thor's face is doing this weird thing like it's made of churning water. It's just twisting and contorting and -

Swallowing, Darcy hastens to add, "Not that there is anything wrong with that."

Raising his hand, Thor screams. "Mjolnir!"


	6. Honor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy bends Thor's ear a bit.

Thor's lip is curled in a snarl, his arm is raised, and he is staring directly at Darcy. There is the sound of breaking glass and then Mjolnir is in his hand, sparks bouncing around the room.

Darcy does the most logical thing given the circumstances. She freezes in place.

"Gentlemen, and Lady," Director Fury says, "let's talk about this."

Ignoring the director, Thor points his hammer at Loki. Sparks cascade through the air in Loki's direction. Darcy's skin begins to heat.

"You put her up to this!" Thor shouts. "You tricked her."

"I assure you, I did no such thing," says Loki.

"Arrggghhhh!" shouts Thor, lifting the hammer high. He brings it down just as Loki throws up a bubble force fieldy-thing. The hammer lands on the forcefield, and sparks rain down. Loki takes a few steps backwards, drawing the conflict away from Darcy and Fury.

"Be reasonable, Thor!" Loki says. "Even in madness, have I ever been one to break an oath?"

"How dare you manipulate an innocent for your own devious ends!" Thor bellows.

Innocent? Manipulated? Darcy's eyes go wide; her skin feels like it is scorching hot. Thrusting the tablet into Fury's hands, she waves a fist at Thor's back. "He did not manipulate me, you overgrown, paternalistic, bag of blunder!" Thor doesn't even bother to look at her. With a cry he raises his hammer again.

And that's it. Something in Darcy snaps. With a shout, she runs at Thor and launches herself into the air. Landing on his back, she wraps her legs around his waist and grabs his hair with her hands. "I'm not anyone's puppet!"

Another cry pierces the room. "Darcy!" screams Loki.

She looks up and meets his eyes. They are wide with fear.

That's when she realizes it...She is hanging onto the back of the so-called-God of Thunder, the guy who has taken on entire legions of doombots and aliens by himself. Her skin goes cold.

She is so going to die.

x x x x

_Yuki is trembling. Once, a long time ago, on a trip through Midgard, Thor became angry at some children for defying his wishes and sucking the marrow from some goats he'd sacrificed for their table. Thor had nearly killed them in his rage. Loki managed to convince Thor to take the children as servants instead._

_Will Thor attack her children? She clutches them close._

" _Brother!" Thor's voice bellows in Japanese. Minokichi's eyes meet hers._

" _Let him in," Yuki says. "You cannot keep him out." She tilts her head. Thor hasn't broken down the door; that is hopeful._

_Minokichi beckons for two servants and whispers quickly to them. She is dimly aware of one heading towards the foyer, the other towards the back of the house and the workshop._

" _Mother," says Masao. "Why does he think his brother is here?"_

_Yuki closes her eyes. She pulls her children close, savors their warm bodies against her own. "He can't speak Japanese well," she tells them. "He has a thick skull."_

_Minokichi and Masako are staring at her. Answering their unspoken question she says, "I must speak to him." Kissing the heads of all three of her children, she heads to the foyer._

_Thor is just coming into the house, one of Yuki's servants bowing low beside him. "Go!" she says to the servant and he scampers out the door. Thor is about to step from the low flag stoned foyer to the tatami when Yuki hisses, "Take off your muddy boots, you clod."_

" _I'm sorry, Madam," Thor says. Bending to unbuckle the cumbersome leather and metal he pauses, his eyes coming up to Yuki's own. "Loki!"_

_Thor's eyes go up and down Yuki's frame and his lip curls up in disgust. Speaking in Asgardian he says, "Mother told me what you have done...but how dare you greet me..." he lifts a hand, "like this! As a woman! Have you no shame?"_

_Yuki's eyes narrow. She is holding her female form for her children's sake. They need not be more confused or frightened than they already are. She should also hold her tongue. But can't. "Can't handle me being more honest than you?" she hisses._

_Thor tilts his great golden head._

" _I know about your experiments with Fandral," Loki says. "Never really understood how you got pleasure out of it, but now that I'm a woman-"_

" _Shut up!" Thor bellows._

" _Mama!" says Masao. She hears the rush of footsteps, child and adult, and Yuki bites her tongue as her family pours from the hallway behind her. Masao runs in front of her and on instinct she reaches out, wraps her arms around him and pulls him to her._

_Minokichi stands by her side. From the corner of her eye she sees the glint of mirror like steel. Yoshida's blade is in his hands. It is illegal for anyone but samurai to brandish swords as weapons—but she can see how Minokichi must think they are already dead. On her other side, Masako draws close, one hand at the v-neck of her kimono where she keeps her knife, the other hand wrapped protectively around little Aiko._

_Thor snorts, and laughs. "The humans have myths of you leading an army into Asgard. If this is it, I think you'll find yourself hard pressed." He looks Minokichi up and down. "He is barely as tall as Lady Sif, and maybe prettier." Thankfully he speaks in Asgardian._

" _What do you want, Thor?" Yuki says._

_Thor's face hardens. "At the moment, nothing." He looks down at the ground. "But mother wants you to come home."_

_Yuki's eyes open in alarm. "What is wrong?"_

_Thor looks away. "We are to go to war with Nornheim. Father seems to think we'll need your skills. He has begun looking for you. Mother sent me to find you before he does...to..." He shakes a hand in the direction of little Aiko. "To protect your children."_

_Lifting his head, Thor says, "Mother can only distract Heimdall's gaze for so long. I will wait outside while you get your things." And with that he walks out of the house and throws his hammer to the ground. Sparks shoot from its handle and one of the servants shrieks._

_Aiko begins to cry._

x x x x

_Minokichi, Yuki and his mother are in the room they usually use for dining, sitting on the floor around the long low table. A servant has taken the children to the garden._

" _If your brother intends to drag you into a war, stay here, and we will fight Lord Yoshida together instead," Minokichi says, crossing his arms over his chest. He is so angry the edge of his vision is black._

_Yuki arches her brow. "Yes_ _—_ _"_

" _Yuki, do you really want all your children to die?" Minokichi's mother whispers. Her voice is quiet, but it draws all the attention of a shout._

_Yuki turns her head sharply and snaps at Minokichi's mother. "It looks like there is no way out of that now! If I don't go with my brother, my father will find me and kill my children. If I do go, Yoshida will kill you and sell my children as slaves! I can't use my magic now against him. If my father's spies see, my father or some other disgruntled relative who feels I've shamed the family will come to claim your hides!"_

_Minokichi's mother's eyes narrow. "Worry about your family. Go to them. We will handle Yoshida!"_

_Yuki tilts her head. "How?"_

_His mother tilts her head down. "By telling them the truth. That you are from the spirit world and your family came to take you home."_

_Minokichi straightens, his vision darkening. "Yoshida should die for what he suggested! We should fight him. That would be the honorable way!"_

_His mother snaps her attention back to him. "Honor is for fools and samurai! Everyone else must use their wits."_

_Minokichi looks at Yuki, waiting for her support._

_She bows her head. "I want my children to live," she says._

_Minokichi slumps in his seat. His jaw tightens, his chest constricts. He is ready to argue further, but Yuki says, "I can imagine none more beautiful in this world or the next."_

_He sucks in a fast breath. She says things like that, things so lovely that he loses track of what he was going to say. He is being manipulated, and he knows it, and he is so angry...still..._

_Her brother is ugly, built like an ox, twice as wide and nearly as hairy. But his armor was finer than any samurai Minokichi has ever encountered. Surely a sign of great wealth. What Yuki must have left behind to stay with him and bear his children. She has some affection for Minokichi, he has no doubt. But she stayed because of their children, they are their greatest treasure—all healthy, beautiful and clever. And Minokichi is able to give them a life he never dreamed of, all because of Yuki._

_He wants to kill Yoshida, even if it means death. But it is not his death alone—it will be his mother, and his children's. Most Japanese believe after death their spirits live on, and it is the duty of descendents to make offerings to them. But if that was so Yuki's realm would be overflowing with the dead. Minokichi is sure death is the end. But Yuki will not be able to die. And one way or another her family will claim her. How terrible to go back to her realm and not be able to look down and see her children and grandchildren here._

_He sighs, and bows his head. "Eh," he says in acknowledgement. It is all he can manage to say, his suppressed rage is so great._

_Yuki nods at him and turns to his mother. "What is your plan?"_

x x x x

In a surprisingly reasonable voice Thor says, "Lady Darcy, I do not wish to hurt you. Surely you must see how Loki is manipulating you..."

There with the manipulation again. The edges of her vision blacken, before she's really thought about it Darcy bites his ear.

"Arrrggghhh!" screams Thor, bending over and almost throwing Darcy to the floor.

Which is exactly the when Loki decides to go nuts. "If you hurt her, Thor, I will rip your brains out through your eye sockets!"

Darcy thinks it may be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said in her honor. She looks up at her great grand-ancestor—green fire is swirling around him, his brows are drawn.

Grinning, Darcy lets go of the ear and says, "It's alright ,I'm..."

And suddenly she is flying up and over Thor's back. Time slows as Darcy hurtles through the air. She tries to loosen her body for the inevitable impact with the ground...Time seems to stretch, everything around her goes green. She falls, and falls, and falls, but it's like she's as light as a feather. It's a rather pleasant sensation actually. Maybe she's hit the ground already and suffering a major head injury? Man, her dad will have a heart attack. Way to ruin Thanksgiving for the family.

Suddenly, the green is gone, she has weight again, and she's stretched out horizontally, but she's in Loki's arms.

"Are you alright?" he says, with big puppy dog eyes.

Darcy smiles. "That was fun!"

Loki scowls at her. "Do that again and I'll kill you."

Darcy frowns.

"How dare you use her as a hostage!" Thor shouts.

Loki's scowl deepens and he lowers her to the ground. "Excuse me, Darling...in the meantime, I may have to kill Thor."

"No, wait," says Darcy.

But Loki has already turned. "You could have killed her!"

"Um, that seems like an exaggeration," says Darcy.

"You put her in danger!" snarls Thor.

"Stop it, everyone!" bellows Fury, and man, does he have lungs like a fog horn.

Everyone does stop. Holding the tablet aloft, Fury says, "Would you mind explaining, Miss Lewis, exactly what you've done here?"

Darcy straightens. On the screen is her project. A picture of Thor with a pullout quote next to it. "Ummm...this is what is going to appear on all of SHIELD's public relations channels: Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, in exactly 47 minutes if Thor doesn't let Loki come to my Thanksgiving dinner."

"What is it?" says Thor.

Biting her lip to suppress a smile, Darcy says, "You telling the world how the Asgardians see no shame in homosexual relationships, and how Mimir and your Dad were together for a time, when Odin was learning magic from Mimir...During the Lokasenna Loki said that Odin spent some time at the Isle of Sammy...or some such."

Thor's face goes red. Loki coughs. "To be fair I was quite drunk that night."

"Uh-huh," says Darcy. And that's when Odin spilled the beans about your time on Earth as a woman."

Thor takes a step towards her.

Which makes Darcy just talk faster. "Anyway, all the Odin worshipping homosexual types say that ummm...the rituals in Sammy, well, they were..." They involved Odin being on the receptive end of male-male relations. Ritualistically. But Still. By the way Thor is turning a deeper shade of red, she knows she doesn't have to elaborate.

"Lies!" hiss Thor.

Darcy shrugs. "Yeah, well the part about Asgard accepting homosexuality, obviously, but the other part, not so much. Well, it might not have been Mimir but I think that is implied -"

Turning to Fury, Thor bellows, "You will stop this."

Darcy and Loki both look at the director. Fury tilts his head. "I'm sorry, Thor, but she's already set the wheels in motion...unless I can extract her login rights and passwords from her, I can't do anything."

"But surely Tony's computers can hack the codes!" Thor says, displaying more technological savvy than Darcy would have given him credit for.

Fury purses his lips. "Yes, of course, but in 47 minutes?" He shakes his head. "Never."

It would take more like 30 seconds. Darcy looks nervously to the side at Loki. He is giving her the same sideways look.

"Then when this is released you will retract it!" says Thor.

Darcy exhales. Okay, so the big blonde guy isn't  _that_ technologically savvy.

Fury arches his eyebrow. "Do you know the public relations fallout I'd get from the LGBT lobby if I did that?" He shakes his head. "No, no, I'm sorry Thor. I couldn't do that. Maybe, maybe, I could amend the part about the relationship with Mimir...but the first part..."

Darcy swallows...wait...no!

 

To her surprise, Thor's mouth drops. "No...I could never. Not even that...if Asgard even thought those words came from me..."

Fury nods and sighs. "Well, I'm sorry, Thor. But I think you'll have to give into Miss Lewis' demands."

Thor turns to her with a look of such hurt and betrayal on his face, Darcy is almost, almost, sorry.

"You will stop this?" he says.

Darcy puts her hands on her hips. "Only if you let Loki hang out with his Earth family." She blinks and looks quickly at Loki. "I mean, only if you want to."

Smirking, Loki shrugs and winks at Darcy. "Well, I suppose I have too...since it's  _Odin's_ honor is at stake"

x x x x

"Is this proper attire for a Giving of Thanks feast?" says Loki. They are in his suite. Darcy is lying sideways on his couch, a dark green duvet pulled up to her chin. Darcy passed out here not long after the showdown with Thor—there may have been some magic involved, or maybe it is just that the couch is magically comfortable. The duvet hadn't been there when she went to sleep. Loki may have magicked it over her while she slept. Or maybe he tucked it around her with his hands—she dreamed he did that.

Loki holds out his arms. He's wearing a dark gray suit with a light green dress shirt and green and gold scarf. His hair is still wild and curly, and in the bright light of day she can see there's a lot of familiar family frizz to it. It doesn't look precisely good, but it looks better than a greasy helmet.

Darcy shakes her head at the clothes. "Too dressy."

He shimmers and he is wearing a long sleeve dark green button up polo and black trousers. Darcy shrugs. "You could even go with dark jeans."

Loki scowls. "I am a prince."

Darcy rolls her eyes. "What you have on is fine." She peeks under the duvet at her slightly ratty jammies. "A lot better than what I have on."

Loki snorts. The air at her feet shifts and white boxes materialize on the couch. She'd bet money they are the same white boxes that were in her apartment—she'd gotten tired of taking them to UPS only to have them pop back to her place later.

"Please tell me you will accept them now," Loki says.

Shrugging, Darcy says, "Sure, granny."

He narrows his eyes, and she sees the slightest quirk to his lips. "I prefer  _obaasan_ ," he says, using the Japanese word for grandmother.

Darcy grins.

He raises an eyebrow like he's annoyed, but the corners of his mouth are pulling up. He runs his hands through his hair. "Now just to take care of this."

"Noooooo!" screams Darcy, jumping from the couch.

Loki blinks at her.

She grabs his hand and starts leading him towards the bathroom. "Make you a deal, you let me handle your hair, I'll wear the clothes. Seriously, Obaasan, your family is going to totally give you a pass on the whole world domination thing, but looking like an icky used car salesman...it won't fly."


	7. Fairy God Relatives and Happy(ish) Endings

Darcy stands behind Loki. He is sitting on a chair in the dining room before a low mirror. All Loki had for hair care products was a canister of dragons milk - it was thick, goopy, gelatinous and disgusting. Darcy suggested he give it back to the baby dragons. She'd managed to find a little vial of moisturizer, the kind that they give out in hotels, beneath the sink of his opulent bathroom. She has the tiniest bit on her hands.

He's scowling at her and sitting very tensely. "Dragons milk is a common hair care product in Asgard; what you are using is for skin."

Massaging the frizzy mop that reminds her so much of her own, she says, " _Relax_ , I know what I'm doing."

She could ask Jarvis for help in acquiring something more suitable, but then Tony would find out. Tony asking questions, or making jokes about her and Loki, would make her uncomfortable. And she's already feeling uncomfortable. She looks at Loki's reflection. Without the greasy helmet he's really beautiful. He's also her relative, if distantly...very, very, very, distantly. It sends her brain's internal hamster wheel spinning.

"Okay, one more pass and I think you'll be done," Darcy says, rubbing a little more moisturizer on her hands. Thankfully, Stark tower gives its guests the good stuff; it's not too greasy and the sandalwood scent is light but not feminine. Pulling his bangs back from his eyes, she stands back and surveys her work. Goodbye frizz, hello glossy black curls!

Loki tilts his head and narrows his eyes. "It's still curly."

Darcy pops the cap back down on the moisturizer and grins. "Oh, stuff it; it looks great! You look hot!" And then she realizes what she said. She catches her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes are wide, and her mouth has gone slack. Loki's expression mirrors hers.

Darcy puts a hand to her face. "Ugh. I think I just squicked myself out."

Loki winces. "I think I take your meaning." He straightens in the chair. "You know...perhaps...all things considered..."

There is a swirl of green, he shimmers, he shrinks and narrows...and sitting in front of Darcy is a woman. But not just any woman. She takes a small gasp. The moisturizer slips from her hand.

Loki spins in his chair. "Oh, come, now, you know I'm your _obaasan_. Surely this form doesn't shock you." There's a hint of annoyance in his -her- voice, and her, eyebrows are slightly drawn together.

Darcy's lower lip trembles. Loki's eyes are still green. His face is smaller and narrower, and it makes his eyes look bigger and rounder. He - she - looks young, younger than Darcy remembers from real life, but not younger than the face she's seen in countless pictures of her mother and father's courtship.

"You...you...why do you look so much like my mom? You know she's dead! That's mean!" Darcy says. She suddenly wants to withdraw her invitation and bolt from the room, but she stands frozen in place.

Loki's eyes soften. In a swift motion she stands from the chair; and then she isn't really Darcy's mom anymore. She's too tall and her breasts are too big...but still, her face...Darcy blackmailed Odin, threw herself onto Thor's back, and bit Thor's ear without fear, but she can't meet Loki's eyes.

Slim arms wrap around her, and Darcy feels herself pressed against a soft frame, a small hand smoothes Darcy's hair. A voice, too much like her mother's, but British says, "I'm sorry. This is my default female form...I didn't think..." and then he - she - goes into this long discussion of genetics and epigenetics, and recombination, and how the genes in her mother must have expressed themselves just  _so_. It reminds Darcy of Jane's sciencey-babble, and she's not really listening, she just bursts out, "Could you just change yourself back?"

There is a swirl of green, the soft frame becomes firmer, and taller. "Of course," says Loki, his masculine form and voice back. He doesn't let her go, which is maybe good, because she might fall over.

Biting her lip, Darcy looks up at him. He looks like he's holding his breath. It was an accident and Darcy has to fix it. Sniffling she says, "Well, on the plus side I'll probably never think you're hot again."

He tilts his head and says softly, "Understandable." He sucks in a slightly strangled breath. Kissing the top of her head again, he says, "And probably for the best."

Sighing, she leans into Loki and he pulls her in for a firmer hug. Just to talk of anything, anything at all, she says, "So I'm guessing, the bit in the Japanese fairy tale, where you threatened Minokichi's life if he hurt the children...that might have been overblown."

He pulls away just a little bit and smiles down at her wryly. "Oh, if he had hurt the children I would have killed him, but he knew that. There was no need to threaten him." Pulling her in again, he says, "No, the threat was for someone else."

He holds her a beat too long, and squeezes her a bit too tightly. Releasing her awkwardly and not meeting her eyes, he tilts his head towards the kitchen. "Come, I'll tell you about it."

x x x x

_"What!" bellows Thor, his voice echoing beyond the Masada's courtyard and to the mountains beyond that surround the village. The volume hits Yuki like a physical blow. Minokichi steps closer to her side, palming the hilt of the sword he made for Yoshida still hanging at his hip. She'd forgotten how very loud the Aesir can be. Even the samurai didn't voice their emotions so loudly._

" _Those are the terms, Thor," she says, her wooden sandals sinking into the ground left muddy by Thor's storm._

_Thor strides towards her. "You are in no position to bargain with me."_

_Yuki smiles. In Asgardian she says, "Actually, I am. If it was known your brother lived as a human woman, it would taint your reputation."_

_Thor tilts his head. "Your honor would be tainted more than mine."_

_Yuki laughs. "When have I cared for honor?"_

_Thor stares at her, his eyes narrow, and then he looks away. "Very well," he says._

_He speaks in Asgardian, but beside her, Minokichi says, "He has agreed." It doesn't surprise Yuki that Minokichi picked that up. The Japanese are masters of the things unsaid - and Thor's meaning screams in his tone, and in his eyes averted in defeat._

_From the house Aiko cries. Yuki looks at the ground, her eyes stingin. "What will you tell them?" she whispers._

" _That their mother's people came for her," Minokichi says quietly._

_Yuki bites her lip. "I want to look at them one more time, but I'm afraid if I do I could never leave." Her voice cracks, her eyes go blurry as she tries to fight back her tears, and her legs almost fall out from beneath her - maybe they do. But Minokichi catches her and pulls her to him. Her head falls against his cheek...and it's wet. She looks up and sees he is crying as much as she is. In Japan a man is allowed to cry about such things. In Asgard she'll have to hold it all inside...She lets her tears fall this once, clinging to Minokichi, and pressing her face to the corner of his shoulder._

" _I will take care of them, Yuki," he whispers. "I will, I will. Of everything we have our children are the most beautiful."_

" _Loki, we must go," Thor says in Japanese._

_Yuki pulls only away from Minokichi so she can meet his gaze. His eyes are so brown they are almost black - their children's eyes verge on gold and hazel._

" _Loki," Thor rumbles._

" _I..." Yuki says._

_In the middle of their courtyard, in front of servants, and Thor, Minokichi kisses her. It is only a quick peck to the lips but she freezes in place. Minokichi has never kissed her in public, or even held her hand, in all their time being married together. It used to bother her...or maybe it still does...not that it matters now._

_He pulls back. Behind her she hears Thor cough. She swallows. "I think that you just made my brother very angry."_

_Minokichi's wet, red rimmed eyes narrow. Leaning in, he kisses her again. This time long, and to any Japanese person looking on definitely lewd - and this time Yuki responds. Twisting her fingers in the fabric of his kimono, anger and love pool in her core as tears fall down her face._

_She hears the slosh of Thor's boots in the mud. "Loki, we really must go," Thor says again, and this time his voice is thick with embarrassment._

_Yuki and Minokichi part and press their foreheads together. "Go, Yuki. Please. Before I change my mind."_

_Nodding, unable to meet his gaze, she backs away, bowing Japanese style, as she does._

_From the house comes Mutsuko, a satchel in her hands. Running through the mud, she hands it to Yuki. "To remember us by," and then she bows as well._

_Sighing, Thor snaps his fingers and the horse he rode gives a whinny and steps over to him. "Come, Yuki," he says, slipping into the saddle and then leaning down to offer her an arm. Yuki takes it, and Minokichi helps her up behind Thor._

" _Ki o' tsukete, Yuki," Minokichi says, as the horse begins to walk away. Take care of your spirit, it means. Yuki can think of no more apt words for goodbye. "Ki o' tsukete," she whispers back, eyes on him, as the horse reaches the gate._

_A servant is just beginning to open it when Minokichi runs forward, startling the horse. As Thor curses, Minokichi unfastens the scabbard with the sword by his side. "Yuki, I never gave you your sword!"_

_Yuki stares at it. She'd almost forgotten - she first come back to him for a blade - but they'd sold her blade when she became pregnant to fund his business. That was so long ago. Yuki swallows. "But this is the sword for Lord Yoshida."_

_Holding the sword up to her in two hands, Minokichi says, "If our plan works, he will not ask for it."_

_Yuki stares at the gleaming metal._

_Bowing his head, Minokichi says, "Please, Yuki, your people are at war and I won't be there to walk in front of you."_

_With trembling hands, Yuki takes the sword and pulls it to her chest with one hand. She hears the sound of her Masao and Aiko crying. Wrapping her other hand around Thor, she says, "Ride, Thor, quickly."_

_Thor kicks his heels, and they set off into a bouncy trot. Thor kicks again, and the horse lunges into a canter. As they ride through the town, people come out of their houses and stare. Yuki hopes that it will be enough._

_Just outside of the town they turn onto the main road - Thor had wanted to go in the other direction, towards the Bifrost bridge. But on this route, as Yuki - Loki - had hoped, they encounter Lord Yoshida and his men on the road. Thor lifts his hammer and the samurai and their horses dive into the forest as lightening courses down their path. A few of the samurai raise their bows and their swords, but Loki turns their arrows and blades into snakes, raising Yoshida's sword in the air just in case. No one attempts to apprehend them._

_Minokichi watches as Yuki rides away, her frame slight and small against the beast that is her brother._

_The children are crying. His mother stands at the doorway to their home. She holds a bottle of sake in her hand. It is time for the second part of their plan. He hates it, it makes his stomach shrink inside, and his anger flair. The baby's wail rises up above the sound of the other children. And then the voice of Kenichi, their eldest rises above the rest, "Hiro-chan, shhhhhh...shhhhhh."_

_His mother looks to the house. "There is a woman, a bit further into the mountains, her baby just passed away two days ago. I will send a servant to ask if she will be a wet nurse."_

_Minokichi nods duly. He looks at the bottle of sake in his mother's hands. He does this for his children, and for Yuki who will not be able to die. Uncorking the bottle, he splashes the sake over his clothes, drains what is left in the bottle, and then walks towards the gate of the courtyard, affecting a drunken swagger._

_He is walking down the main street towards the local inn, when Nakumura, the kindly bookseller, puts his hand on his shoulder. "We all saw what happened to Yuki," the old man says. "Come let me buy you a drink."_

_Minokichi nods. Soon, it is not just Nakumura in the inn with him, it is nearly every man in town. Outside the inn, their wives whisper. When he hears the sound of horse's hooves outside, Minokichi pulls himself up from the floor, staggers out - this time it isn't an affectation, and falls down to his knees in the middle of the main road and cries. The town folk try to pull him back, saying, "The lord is coming! The lord is coming!" But Minokichi will not budge. As the lord and his entourage draw closer on their horses, Minokichi expects that the townsfolk will scatter. Some do...but others kneel down in the mud beside him, men and women both._

_The horses draw up short, afraid to break their legs. Looking up to the sky, Minokichi wails, "My wife, my wife! Her family have come and taken her away, and it is all my fault!"_

_Pulling to the front of the entourage, Lord Yoshida bellows, "Wood cutter! What are you talking about!"_

_Rubbing his nose with a sleeve, Minokichi says, "She was a spirit, and her brother has taken her home...all because of me."_

" _It's true!" cries Nakamura's wife. "We all knew she was a spirit! She never aged!"_

" _And she even bewitched her mother-in-law into liking her!" shouts a woman._

_Among the lord's men, Minokichi hears, "That explains the lightning giant!" An older man on horseback approaches Yoshida and says, "I would urge you to leave this matter alone, Sir."_

_But Lord Yoshida keeps his eyes trained on Minokichi and shouts, "Explain yourself!"_

_So Minokichi does. He tells the story of his first night in the hut with Yuki, but says that she took the life of his master with cold frigid breath, and then made him make an oath of secrecy and promised to kill him if he ever broke it. He tells how not one year after he met a beautiful woman going to Edo to be a servant, and not recognizing her, asked her to be his wife._

" _And then this morning," He sniffles. "I said how much she reminded me of that snow woman! She flew into a rage and said the only reason she did not kill me was because of our children!"_

" _Oh, she did love the children!" an old townsman says. "Yes, yes," echo some of the men and women in the mud._

_Nodding, and wiping a genuine tear from his face, Minokichi says, "She held the sword I was making for you, honorable lord, at my throat. And she told me if I was ever to hurt our children she would come and kill me!" He would love to say that she promised to kill Yoshida himself if anything happened to the children, but such a statement would be too directly threatening, and might get Minokichi killed. Instead, he merely implies that Yoshida's life will be at risk._

_There are murmurs among the townspeople of, "A mother's love is a ferocious thing."_

_Biting his lip, Minokichi drops down into the mud. To him the tale seems preposterous - how could he not notice that Yuki was the same woman he met in the hut? And if she had killed his master how could he ever deemed her worthy as a wife?_

_The horses shift nervously. He hears the voice of Lord Yoshida's advisors. "We saw her hold the sword...and the snakes. Leave this man alone!"_

_There is absolute silence. Minokichi dares glance up at Lord Yoshida. His eyes are wide and he looks pale. Without another word he pulls his horse's reins and turns the creature around. Minokichi watches as they go. He notices that as soon as they reach the edge of town the lord and his entourage break into a gallop._

" _Will we see her again?" Nakumura asks._

_Minokichi shakes his head. "Her family has taken her home."_

_Shaking his head, Nakumura sighs. "So it is with humans and spirits. There are no happy endings."_

_Minokichi picks himself up from the mud; the townspeople follow suit. He goes home. He bathes. And he goes back to work._

_For a long while, Minokichi thinks that he was right when he told Nakumura he would never see Yuki again. Oh, sometimes when the snow falls and the wind blows, he thinks he sees a reflection of her, but she is not there, she is not solid. And famines sweep through Japan, but they seem to pass by their little town...still...it isn't the same._

_But as the years pass, and his grief fades, he watches his children grow. They are all strong. His boys tower over him, and even his daughter has a few finger widths of height on him. They are all clever and sharp. Their eyes are light brown, almost gold, except for Aiko's whose are almost on green. They are all healthy. At the end of his life, when he lies on his futon, with his children and their spouses all around, he can't help but think how lucky he is - it is a rare man that doesn't have to endure watching a child die, but he's made it to the end ahead of all of them. He hears the rush of wind outside, and Aiko takes his hand in hers. It is warm and soft, solid and real - and Minokichi feels like he has had the most important part of Yuki with him the whole time._

x x x x

"So it was Minokichi, my great-great-great-grandfather who came up with the whole, 'Yuki will kill me' if anything happens to the children thing?"

They are in Loki's kitchen at a high counter. Loki is pouring a cup of tea from an ancient earthenware pot. "Yes," he says quietly, taking his own teacup. It looks like it has been cracked and mended.

"Huh," says Darcy. Taking the cup in her hand, she grins. "So I get my sneakiness from both sides. Excellent!"

Loki rolls his eyes, but he smiles.

Darcy blows on her teacup. "You never went back?"

Loki's face falls. "I...no." He closes his eyes. "Not as Yuki, not in corporeal form. I visited a few times in the guise of a wandering peddler. I watched over the town...I blackmailed Thor into making it rain a few times when the country was in drought...but no, never as Yuki. Odin was suspicious at that point.

"I followed my children, and their children for a few generations...but there were wars here, and in Asgard." He shrugs.

Darcy takes a long sip of her tea, wishing she knew what to say. Then she catches sight of the clock. "I better get ready to go."

Loki blinks. "You promised to wear the clothes I got you if I accepted your hair styling."

Darcy grins at him as she slips off the stool. Striding towards and the boxes of clothes in the other room she says, "Yeah, and I will. You have good taste in clothes, but it was just weird. Now that I know you're practically my fairy godmother..." Her voice trails off. Does he know the implication of fairy? Would he care? Okay, granted, he seems to like guys when he's in girl form, but in guy form...and Asgardians are so weird and prejudiced. She looks cautiously over her shoulder. Loki is smirking at her; he's given himself to semi-translucent green wings and a ridiculous green glass wand. He flicks his wrist melodramatically and green glittery stuff goes everywhere. Darcy cackles. Of all the gods she could be related to, she's got the trickster.

Totally awesome.

x x x x

Darcy picks out a tight V necked cashmere sweater, brown pencil skirt, and brown boots out of the 'fairy booty.' And then Loki insists on conjuring up a jacket 'more suitable for a young lady than the sleeping bag she insists on wearing.' Instead he gives her a white, unbelievably thin, yet warm down coat that hits just above the knee. Darcy's never been one to be particular about her clothes, but she does look nice...and it does feel good, the clothes...and looking nice.

She's in a wonderful mood, but as they step out of Stark Tower into the crisp November air, Darcy notices Loki's face is a little pinched. He almost looks...nervous. She remembers how tight he held her last night and this morning.

It's not much, but she holds out her arm to him. Loki takes it.

Darcy smiles up at him. "This is kind of nice. Like having a brother again."

"Again?" says Loki, looking slightly alarmed.

Darcy shrugs. "Yeah, well, you know it hasn't been quite the same since he got one of those pesky wives."

He squeezes her arm as they walk to the corner to hail a cab. "Well, I am happy to serve."

It strikes her that she's never seen anyone but Thor touch him. Trying to take over the world, even if you do it under the control of a psychotic space Titan, probably puts a few people off. She doesn't want to think of that stuff though, and probably he doesn't either. So Darcy says, "Of course, there is the benefit of the neice."

At that Loki actually smiles. "Yes, we can get her all riled up and hand her back to her mother!"

Darcy snorts. "And you told me there were no happy endings!"

Loki's face pinches, and he narrows his eyes, but she can see him biting back a smirk. "You did put up quite a good fight," he says.

She shrugs. "This is the land of Disney, happy endings happen here!"

A cab pulls up with a screech, and Steve gets out. His mouth drops at the sight of them. "Uhh...Darcy," he stammers, his eyes roving up and down. She wonders what that's about. But this is her and her fairy grandmother's moment, so she just nods at Steve and smiles. She turns to Loki and sees him gazing at Steve with narrowed eyes. She doesn't know what that is about either, but she yanks Loki into the cab and gives the driver the address.

As he closes the door she says, "You know, I don't think you're so much my fairy grandmother."

Loki raises an eyebrow at her as he closes the door.

"Yeah," she says, putting a finger to her chin, "It's more like I'm  _your_  fairy granddaughter."

Loki just grins. It's only when she's stepping out of the cab and her wings get stuck on the door that she notices she's got them. Yep. Trickster gods are awesome.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this story, you will love my original story, "I Bring the Fire", staring Myth!Loki. A free excerpt is [online here](http://ibringthefireodin.tumblr.com/post/27868080954/fic-i-bring-the-fire-post-1).
> 
> *UPDATE* "[Monsters](http://ibringthefireodin.tumblr.com/post/37240026042/i-bring-the-fire-part-ii-monsters)" the second installment of "I Bring the Fire" is now available. Read a [free excerpt here](http://ibringthefireodin.tumblr.com/post/37240026042/i-bring-the-fire-part-ii-monsters).
> 
> I also have a sci-fi first contact story called [Murphy's Star.](http://murphysstar.tumblr.com/post/34481173086/murphys-star-free-excerpt)
> 
>  
> 
> **Writing original fiction is how I keep my husband from nagging me for writing fanfiction! So I would appreciate it if you gave my original works a look!**
> 
>  
> 
> For more mythological/sci-fi goodness, follow me on [Tumblr](http://cgockel.tumblr.com/).


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